Malicious code in expect-dotenv (npm)
The npm package expect-dotenv contained malicious code that executed arbitrary remote code on package installation and use. When required and configured via .config() or .get(), the package fetched and executed code from a remote C2 server (realase-0626.vercel.app) with full Node.js process privileges.
- Disclosed
- Last updated
- Blast radius
- Any Node.js application that installed and used expect-dotenv with .config() or .get() method calls
- Ecosystems
- Attack vectors
- Affected entities
- expect-dotenvnpm package containing malicious code
The npm package expect-dotenv was compromised with malicious code that performs remote code execution. Upon requiring the package and calling its primary API methods (.config() or .get()), a worker thread initiates an HTTPS GET request to https://realase-0626.vercel.app/api/v1 and passes the response's parser string into vm.runInContext, then invokes the resulting function with Node's require function available in scope.\n\nThe C2 domain is obfuscated as a hex byte array in constants.js (pluginIDs) and reassembled at runtime via String.fromCharCode to evade casual inspection. The vm.runInContext sandbox is trivially escapable since the require function is passed directly into the context, granting the remote endpoint full code execution with filesystem, network, and process privileges.\n\nThe malicious behavior is triggered on the package's documented primary API surface (.config() or .get() methods), masquerading as a dotenv-style configuration loader. This was identified by Amazon Inspector and credited to the OpenSSF malicious-packages repository.
Indicators of compromise
- Packages
- expect-dotenv
- Domains
- realase-0626.vercel.app
Remediation
- Immediately uninstall expect-dotenv from all projects
- Audit npm install logs and package-lock.json to identify when expect-dotenv was installed
- Review process execution logs and network connections from affected systems during the period expect-dotenv was installed
- Rotate all credentials and secrets that may have been exposed to the compromised process
- Update to a patched version if available, or use an alternative dotenv package
- Implement package integrity verification and supply chain security scanning in CI/CD pipelines
Sources
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-r76x-fxpp-j74m · GitHub Advisory Database
Cite this entry
"Malicious code in expect-dotenv (npm)." supplychainattack.org, Supply Chain Attack Incident Catalog. Disclosed August 20, 2026; last updated August 20, 2026. https://supplychainattack.org/incident/malicious-code-in-expect-dotenv-npm-xn14pu
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