Question 1

Which node-ipc versions carry the malware?

Accepted Answer

Versions 9.1.6, 9.2.3, and 12.0.1. SlowMist and StepSecurity both flagged them. All three had the same obfuscated payload that runs as soon as you load the package.

Question 2

How did the attacker take over the maintainer account?

Accepted Answer

The original maintainer's email domain, atlantis-software.net, expired January 10, 2025. Attacker re-registered it through Namecheap on May 7, 2026, then used npm's password-reset process to grab the account. Maintainer never knew it happened, per StepSecurity's analysis reported by Bitcoin.com.

Question 3

What does the stealer actually grab?

Accepted Answer

Over 90 categories of secrets. AWS tokens, Google Cloud and Azure credentials, SSH keys, Kubernetes configs, GitHub CLI tokens, shell history files, and .env files, which often hold crypto private keys and exchange API secrets. Bitcoin.com reported the full breakdown.

StepSecurity

Attackers hijack npm maintainer account, steal crypto keys

One sharp brief.
Every day.

StepSecurity

Attackers hijack npm maintainer account, steal crypto keys

One sharp brief.Every day.

One sharp brief.
Every day.