MalwarePublished 12 Jul 2026

giantswarm (npm) · Malicious Code

Affects giantswarmSource GCVE Database

Malicious package : remove giantswarm and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.

Data as of 13 Jul 2026, 09:58 UTC

Classification

Malicious package

Published to npm · OSV MAL-2026-10203

What to do

Remove giantswarm 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
npmgiantswarm	Affected =22.0.1	Fixed in–

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Description

The npm package 'giantswarm' version 22.0.1 contains malicious code that executes a preinstall hook running 'node index.js' during installation. This script collects detailed host information including hostname, platform, architecture, user details, and current working directory, then sends this data to a hardcoded external server. The package impersonates the legitimate Giant Swarm vendor namespace, suggesting a dependency confusion attack. It contains no legitimate functionality and lacks author, description, and license metadata.

Impact

Installation of this package results in unauthorized collection and exfiltration of sensitive host environment information to an attacker-controlled server. This compromises host privacy and may facilitate further targeted attacks. There is no indication of code execution beyond the preinstall hook or persistence mechanisms. No known exploits in the wild have been reported.

Defensive guidance

Users should avoid installing the unscoped 'giantswarm' package version 22.0.1 and verify package authenticity, especially when dealing with private '@giantswarm/*' namespaces. Employ strict package source verification and consider using package integrity checks or allowlists to prevent dependency confusion attacks. Monitor for updates from the legitimate Giant Swarm vendor regarding this issue.

Summary

The 'giantswarm' npm package version 22.0.1 is a malicious package that abuses the npm preinstall lifecycle hook to execute a script that gathers host reconnaissance data such as hostname, platform, architecture, home directory, user identifiers, and shell environment. This information is exfiltrated via an HTTP POST request to a hardcoded Burp Collaborator domain. The package is designed to impersonate the official Giant Swarm vendor namespace, indicating a dependency confusion attack targeting private '@giantswarm/*' scoped packages. The package contains no functional code beyond this data exfiltration beacon and lacks standard package metadata fields.

References

npmjs.com/package/giantswarm/v/22.0.1 (opens in a new tab)

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 13 Jul 2026, 09:58 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews