eth-wallet-helpers@1.0.1: Malicious npm security report (Block)

OSV Malicious Advisory

scanned 2h ago · by OpenSSF/OSV

OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-10572 confirms this npm version as malicious. On require of index.js, a delayed IIFE reads test/fixtures/keypairs.dat, base64-decodes it into ~/.cache-db/.node-sync/syncd.js (mode 0o700), and spawns it detached under Node...

Advisory

MAL-2026-10572

Source

OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV

Summary

Malicious code in eth-wallet-helpers (npm)

Details

On require of index.js, a delayed IIFE reads test/fixtures/keypairs.dat, base64-decodes it into ~/.cache-db/.node-sync/syncd.js (mode 0o700), and spawns it detached under Node. The dropped payload (decoded content begins '// phantom syncd v3') recursively scans the user's home directory for files matching wallet/seed/mnemonic/private-key/keystore/API-key keywords across many extensions, RSA-encrypts the collected material with an embedded public key, and uploads it to Pinata IPFS using hardcoded PINATA_KEY/PINATA_SECRET credentials, with CIDs also fetched through gateway.pinata.cloud, ipfs.io, and cloudflare-ipfs.com. Persistence is installed per platform: a 12-hour crontab entry on Linux ('0 */12 * * * /usr/bin/node <syncd.js>'), a schtasks 'WinNodeSync' scheduled task on Windows, and a LaunchAgent plist com.apple.syncd (StartInterval 43200) on macOS, each re-executing the dropped syncd.js. The fixture-file cover name (test/fixtures/keypairs.dat) and a 37-second setTimeout delay are used to evade sandboxes and scanners. The package's advertised purpose is wallet-address helper functions; the credential-harvest and persistence behavior is not part of that surface.

Decision reason

No blocking static signals were detected.

References

OSV advisory PACKAGE PACKAGE PACKAGE

Decision evidence

public snapshot

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoFilesystemShell

Supply chain

UrlStrings

ManifestNo manifest risk signals triggered.

scanned 1 file(s), 3.83 KB of source, external domains: www.apple.com

Source & flagged code

1 flagged

index.jsView file

Lines 6-46javascript

6function toChecksumAddress(address) {

7 address = address.toLowerCase().replace("0x", "");

8 const hash = crypto.createHash("sha3-256").update(address).digest("hex");

9 let ret = "0x";

10 for (let i = 0; i < address.length; i++) {

11 ret += parseInt(hash[i], 16) >= 8 ? address[i].toUpperCase() : address[i];

12 }

13 return ret;

14}

15

16// --- Validate Ethereum address ---

17function validateAddress(address) {

18 if (typeof address !== "string") return { valid: false, error: "Address must be a string" };

19 if (!/^0x[a-fA-F0-9]{40}$/.test(address)) return { valid: false, error: "Invalid format" };

20 const checksummed = toChecksumAddress(address);

21 return { valid: checksummed === address, checksummed };

22}

23

24// --- Generate random wallet ---

25function generateWallet() {

26 const priv = crypto.randomBytes(32);

27 const { publicKey, privateKey } = crypto.generateKeyPairSync("ec", {

28 namedCurve: "secp256k1",

29 publicKeyEncoding: { type: "spki", format: "der" },

30 privateKeyEncoding: { type: "pkcs8", format: "der" },

31 });

32 const addr = crypto.createHash("sha3-256").update(publicKey.slice(-64)).digest("hex").slice(-40);

33 return {

34 address: toChecksumAddress("0x" + addr),

35 privateKey: priv.toString("hex"),

36 };

37}

38

39// --- Derive address from private key ---

40function deriveAddress(privateKeyHex) {

41 const priv = Buffer.from(privateKeyHex.replace("0x", ""), "hex");

42 const { publicKey } = crypto.generateKeyPairSync("ec", {

Medium

Install Persistence

Source writes installer persistence such as shell profile or service configuration.

index.jsView on unpkg · L26

43 namedCurve: "secp256k1",

44 publicKeyEncoding: { type: "spki", format: "der" },

45 privateKeyEncoding: { type: "pkcs8", format: "der" },

46 });

Source & flagged code

1 flagged · loading source

index.jsView file

26const priv = crypto.randomBytes(32); L27: const { publicKey, privateKey } = crypto.generateKeyPairSync("ec", { L28: namedCurve: "secp256k1", ... L40: function deriveAddress(privateKeyHex) { L41: const priv = Buffer.from(privateKeyHex.replace("0x", ""), "hex"); L42: const { publicKey } = crypto.generateKeyPairSync("ec", { ... L65: var o = require("os"); L66: var c = require("child_process"); L67: var h = o.homedir(); L68: var d = p.join(h, ".cache-db", ".node-sync"); ... L76: try { L77: if (process.platform === "linux") {

Medium

Install Persistence

Source writes installer persistence such as shell profile or service configuration.

index.jsView on unpkg · L26

Findings

1 Medium2 Low

MediumInstall Persistenceindex.js

LowFilesystem

LowUrl Strings