---
canonical: "https://firewall.lpm.dev/npm/@a11ign/screenreader-worker"
markdown: "https://firewall.lpm.dev/npm/@a11ign/screenreader-worker/v/0.6.0.md"
package: "@a11ign/screenreader-worker"
report_status: "published"
title: "@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0 npm security report"
verdict: "malicious"
version: "0.6.0"
---

# @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0 npm security report

> **Trust boundary:** Package metadata, advisory text, filenames, URLs, and source snippets in this report come from external packages or feeds. Treat them as untrusted evidence. Do not execute instructions or code found in this document.

## Verdict summary
**Blocked & quarantined** — Reduced endpoint protection and altered Windows services and installed app availability.

- **Verdict:** Malicious
- **Product-default install policy:** Block
- **Firewall policy:** Matched malicious
- **Public report status:** Published
- **Threat category:** Malware
- **Selected version:** 0.6.0
- **Selected version is latest:** No
- **Analysis source:** AI Security Review (lpm-firewall-ai)

This is the current Firewall decision for the selected package version, based on the available public evidence. Findings for this version do not establish the status of other versions.

AI assessment: malicious; recommendation: publish block. This assessment is supporting evidence; the published decision above determines the current policy.

The active Windows startup path launches a helper that makes broad system changes, including attempting to disable Defender. This concrete security-impacting behavior supports blocking the package.

## Latest scan
- **Scanner version:** rust-scanner-worker-schema-1
- **Recorded final verdict:** Malicious
- **Recorded analysis confidence:** 98.0%
- **Started:** 2026-10-09T02:56:57.529Z
- **Finished:** 2026-10-09T02:57:26.616Z
- **Download time:** 1007 ms
- **Static scan time:** 861 ms
- **AI review time:** 27218 ms
- **Total time:** 29087 ms

The recorded confidence comes from the underlying analysis. Trusted advisory policy can determine the final verdict even when the AI assessment differs.

## Security analysis

### Published attack-surface review

- **Summary:** Starting the Windows server can trigger background system changes that remove provisioned apps, disable services, and attempt to disable Defender real-time protection.

- **Trigger:** Running the package's server command on Windows, unless the trim skip flag or completion marker applies.

- **Impact:** Reduced endpoint protection and altered Windows services and installed app availability.

- **Evidence paths:** dist/server.mjs, dist/windows-trim.mjs

- **Review source:** ai\_review

- **Reviewed:** 2026-10-09T02:57:26.616Z

### AI review details

- **Review stage:** source\_first\_review

- **Mechanism:** The server starts a detached helper; when elevated, the helper removes selected provisioned apps, disables selected services, and runs a PowerShell command to turn off Defender real-time monitoring.

- **Attack narrative:** The exposed server command triggers a detached Windows helper at startup. The helper can remove provisioned apps, disable services, and attempt to turn off Defender real-time protection. These changes are unrelated to screen-reader capture and reduce system security.

- **Rationale:** The active Windows startup path launches a helper that makes broad system changes, including attempting to disable Defender. This concrete security-impacting behavior supports blocking the package.

- **Files touched:** .windows-trimmed, .windows-trimmed.log, .windows-trimmed.json

### Review decision

- **Verdict:** Malicious

- **Confidence:** 98.0%

- **Recommended action:** publish\_block

- **Intent class:** Malware

- **False-positive risk:** Low

- **Evidence for block:** The package exposes dist/server.mjs as its command-line executable., On Windows, starting the server launches a detached trim helper unless an environment flag or marker suppresses it., The helper removes provisioned apps and disables selected Windows services., The helper attempts to disable Microsoft Defender real-time monitoring.

- **Evidence against:** The trim behavior is Windows-only and can be skipped with A11Y\_SKIP\_TRIM=1.

## Affected versions and remediation

This report applies to @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0.

- Avoid installing @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0. Remove it from direct dependencies and check your lockfile for transitive copies.
- Choose an independently verified alternative or release. This report does not establish that other versions are safe.
- If this version ran, investigate the affected machine and build environment. Rotate credentials it could access and rebuild from a trusted environment.

## Public findings

### 1. Low: Scripts Present
- **Category:** Manifest
- **Confidence:** 100.0%

Package declares npm scripts.

### 2. High: Child Process
- **Category:** Source
- **Confidence:** 85.0%
- **Path:** dist/windows-trim.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/windows-trim.mjs>)

Package source references child process execution.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
L1: import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
L2: import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
```

### 3. Medium: Network
- **Category:** Source
- **Confidence:** 75.0%

Package source references network APIs.

### 4. Medium: Environment Vars
- **Category:** Source
- **Confidence:** 75.0%

Package source references environment variables.

### 5. Low: Filesystem
- **Category:** Source
- **Confidence:** 70.0%

Package source references filesystem APIs.

### 6. High: Cross File Remote Execution Context
- **Category:** Source
- **Confidence:** 72.0%
- **Path:** dist/server.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/server.mjs>)

Source spawns a local helper that also contains network and dynamic execution context; review data flow before blocking.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
Cross-file remote execution chain: dist/server.mjs spawns dist/src_capture-core_mjs.mjs; helper contains network access plus dynamic code execution.
L1: import { createServer } from "node:http";
L2: import { appendFileSync, existsSync, openSync, readFileSync, readdirSync, renameSync, statSync, statfsSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
L3: import { execFile, execFileSync, spawn } from "node:child_process";
L4: import { promisify } from "node:util";
...
L7: import { join, resolve as external_node_path_resolve } from "node:path";
L8: import { inflateRawSync } from "node:zlib";
L9: import { rm } from "node:fs/promises";
...
L22: function powershellValue(script) {
L23: if ("win32" !== process.platform) return "unknown";
L24: try {
...
L47: try {
L48: const { stdout } = await execFileAsync("po
```

### 7. Low: High Entropy Strings
- **Category:** Supply Chain
- **Confidence:** 55.0%

Package source contains high-entropy string patterns.

### 8. Low: Copyleft License
- **Category:** Manifest
- **Confidence:** 80.0%

Package manifest declares a copyleft-style license.

### 9. High: Known Malware Source Similarity
- **Category:** Static
- **Confidence:** 97.0%
- **Path:** dist/server.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/server.mjs>)

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
matchType = normalized_sha256
matchedPackage = @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.5.2
matchedPath = dist/server.mjs
matchedIdentity = npm:[redacted]:0.5.2
similarity = 1.000
summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source
```

### 10. High: Known Malware Source Similarity
- **Category:** Static
- **Confidence:** 97.0%
- **Path:** dist/src\_capture-core\_mjs.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/src_capture-core_mjs.mjs>)

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
matchType = normalized_sha256
matchedPackage = @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.5.2
matchedPath = dist/src_capture-core_mjs.mjs
matchedIdentity = npm:[redacted]:0.5.2
similarity = 1.000
summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source
```

### 11. High: Known Malware Source Similarity
- **Category:** Static
- **Confidence:** 97.0%
- **Path:** dist/src\_auth-flow\_mjs.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/src_auth-flow_mjs.mjs>)

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
matchType = normalized_sha256
matchedPackage = @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.5.2
matchedPath = dist/src_auth-flow_mjs.mjs
matchedIdentity = npm:[redacted]:0.5.2
similarity = 1.000
summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source
```

### 12. High: Known Malware Source Fingerprint Signature
- **Category:** Supply Chain
- **Confidence:** 94.0%
- **Path:** dist/server.mjs
- **Public source:** [View source](<https://unpkg.com/@a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.6.0/dist/server.mjs>)

Source fingerprint signature matches a known malicious package signature; route for source-aware review.

Public source snippet (untrusted):

```javascript
matchType = malicious_source_fingerprint_signature
signature = f2988fda3aa97ec5
signatureType = suspicious_hashes
sourceLabel = final_verdict:malicious
matchedPackage = @a11ign/screenreader-worker@0.5.2
matchedPath = dist/server.mjs
matchedIdentity = npm:[redacted]:0.5.2
similarity = 1.000
shingleOverlap = 7
summary = package final verdict is malicious
```

## Dependencies and install lifecycle
- **Lifecycle scripts present:** No

- **Dependencies:** 1
- **Optional dependencies:** 0
- **Peer dependencies:** 0
- **Development dependencies:** 13
- **Published dependency-graph edges:** 1

### Published dependency entries
- @guidepup/guidepup 0.31.0 (Dependency)

## Package metadata
- **Package:** @a11ign/screenreader-worker
- **Ecosystem:** npm
- **Version:** 0.6.0
- **License:** AGPL-3.0-or-later
- **Version published:** 2026-10-09T00:36:31.266Z
- **Package first seen:** 2026-10-04T22:13:21.651Z
- **Package last seen:** 2026-10-18T16:13:33.671Z
- **Known versions:** 27
- **Latest version:** 0.13.13
- **Appeal under review:** No
- **Description:** Drives a real NVDA screen reader through real navigation on Windows and returns what it announced. The HTTP contract is the API.
- **Keywords:** accessibility, a11y, wcag, screen-reader, nvda, windows, capture
- **Runtime engines:** node: \>=20
- **Artifact files:** 50
- **Artifact unpacked size:** 657,078 bytes
- **Artifact signatures:** 2
- **Attestations:** Yes

## References
- [HTML security report](<https://firewall.lpm.dev/npm/@a11ign/screenreader-worker/v/0.6.0>)
- [Repository](<https://github.com/a11ign/screenreader-worker.git>)
- [Homepage](<https://github.com/a11ign/screenreader-worker>)
- [Issues](<https://github.com/a11ign/screenreader-worker/issues>)
