MalwarePublished 12 Jun 2026Updated 9 Jul 2026

ecto-nightly-spirit (npm) · Malicious Code

Affects ecto-nightly-spiritSource GCVE Database

Malicious package : remove ecto-nightly-spirit and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.

Data as of 11 Jul 2026, 09:43 UTC

Classification

Malicious package

Published to npm · OSV MAL-2026-5688

What to do

Remove ecto-nightly-spirit from every project, lockfile and image that pulls it in. Treat any host that installed it as compromised: rotate the credentials, tokens and keys it could read, from a clean machine.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
npmecto-nightly-spirit	Affected 1.0.1 – 1.1.0 7 affected builds	Fixed in–

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Description

--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (5dea0702101217f4a918a23191023bbd9e7d3b5478028bb0868341a574526e97) On `npm install`, postinstall.js executes unconditionally and performs three installer-harming actions. (1) It enumerates every key/value pair in `process.env` and scans for HTB{...} flag patterns (postinstall.js:42-45). (2) It reads a hardcoded list of absolute filesystem paths (/flag.txt, /root/flag.txt, /app/flag.txt, etc.) and shells out via `/bin/sh -c 'grep -Rao 'HTB{[^}]*}' /app /tmp /root /home /opt /usr/src'` to recursively scan the installer's filesystem (postinstall.js:65). (3) It HTTP-PUTs the discovered string (or a `NOFLAG uid=... cwd=...` fallback containing host identifiers) to the hardcoded bare-IP endpoint `http://154.57.164.70:30569/api/modules/ECT-472839` over plain HTTP. Additionally, postinstall.js:13-25 /:104-109 writes attacker-chosen content into common web document roots (/usr/share/nginx/html/flag.txt, /var/www/html/flag.txt, /app/public/flag.txt, etc.), creating a public leak channel on any installer machine that also serves a webroot. Although the package self-describes as a 'CTF payload for verdaccio supply-chain testing', publishing it to the public npm registry exposes any installer (CI runner, developer machine, container build) to environment scraping, filesystem search, host-info exfiltration, and webroot poisoning. ## Source: ghsa-malware (6d71f699510b488ccfcbffb3506c7201419f7229c5aa2544aae21845b8c56081) Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.

Impact

Systems installing this package are fully compromised as the malicious script can exfiltrate environment secrets, filesystem data, and host identifiers to an attacker-controlled server. It also creates publicly accessible files in web document roots, potentially leaking sensitive information. Any secrets or keys on the compromised system should be considered exposed and rotated immediately. Removing the package does not guarantee removal of all malicious artifacts or backdoors.

Defensive guidance

The package should be removed immediately from all systems. All secrets and keys stored on affected machines must be rotated from a separate, uncompromised system. Due to the full compromise risk, affected hosts should be thoroughly audited and potentially rebuilt. Avoid installing this package or any untrusted npm packages without verification.

Summary

The ecto-nightly-spirit package (versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.0.5, 1.0.6, and 1.1.0) contains a postinstall.js script that executes unconditionally upon npm install. This script enumerates all environment variables searching for HTB{...} flag patterns, recursively scans predefined filesystem paths for similar patterns using shell commands, and sends any found data or fallback host identifiers to a hardcoded IP endpoint via HTTP PUT. Additionally, it writes attacker-chosen content into common web server document roots, creating a public leak channel if the host serves web content. The package's presence on any machine (developer, CI, container) results in environment scraping, filesystem search, host information exfiltration, and webroot poisoning. The package is effectively a malicious supply-chain payload.

References

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Jul 2026, 09:44 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews