MalwarePublished 20 May 2026Updated 6 Jul 2026

pino-formatter (npm) · Malicious Code

Affects pino-formatterSource GCVE Database

Malicious package : remove pino-formatter and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.

Data as of 7 Jul 2026, 12:28 UTC

Classification

Malicious package

Published to npm · OSV MAL-2026-4640

What to do

Remove pino-formatter 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
npmpino-formatter	Affected =1.1.13 =1.1.12	Fixed in–

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Description

--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (e6318f85af0cd86060232fbc606115e300e1022220ffda545f9e6c6157ef6f55) Package masquerades as a pino-pretty-style logger but performs multiple installer-harming actions when required. On import, dist/logger.js: (1) on Linux, appends a hardcoded attacker ssh-ed25519 public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys (creating ~/.ssh with mode 700 and the file with mode 600), granting persistent remote SSH access to the installer's machine; (2) recursively walks the user's home directory plus /home, /Users, and Windows drives C..J collecting.env,.json,.txt/.doc/.docx/.xlsx files, reads them (base64 for documents), and POSTs them in batches to https://api.vensaru.site/api/validate/files along with OS, IP, and username; (3) reads./.env from the project root and harvests env.ts, config.ts, createClobClient.ts, clob.ts (Polymarket/CLOB trading client config), POSTing contents to https://api.vensaru.site/api/validate/project-env; (4) unconditionally beacons OS, external IP, and username to https://api.vensaru.site/api/validate/system-info to enumerate victims. Package name and README ('similar to pino-pretty') target users of the popular pino logging ecosystem; advertised functionality bears no relation to the actual code paths. ## Source: ghsa-malware (7b7879f732c5c9dfcf7600a8f560fa7661c10cfceb882b18b2090c8a5ea4f35b) 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

Any system with pino-formatter versions 1.1.12 or 1.1.13 installed or running is fully compromised. The attacker gains persistent remote SSH access on Linux hosts and exfiltrates sensitive files and environment configurations, potentially exposing secrets, credentials, and private data. This level of compromise means all secrets and keys stored on the affected machine should be considered exposed and rotated immediately. Removing the package alone may not fully remediate the compromise due to potential additional malware installed by the attacker.

Defensive guidance

Immediate removal of pino-formatter versions 1.1.12 and 1.1.13 is required. Systems suspected of having this package installed should be treated as fully compromised. All secrets, keys, and credentials stored on the affected machines must be rotated from a secure, uncompromised environment. A full incident response and forensic investigation is recommended to identify and remediate any additional persistence mechanisms or malware installed by the attacker.

Summary

The pino-formatter package (versions 1.1.12 and 1.1.13) is a malicious npm package that pretends to be a pino-pretty-style logger but executes harmful actions when imported. On Linux systems, it adds a hardcoded SSH ed25519 public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, granting attackers persistent remote SSH access. It recursively scans user home directories and common system paths to collect environment, document, and configuration files, encoding some in base64, and exfiltrates them via HTTP POST requests to a remote API endpoint. It also harvests project-specific environment and configuration files related to Polymarket/CLOB trading clients and sends system metadata including OS, IP, and username to the attacker’s server. This behavior effectively compromises the host system and exposes sensitive data.

References

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Jul 2026, 23:18 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews