Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
Malicious MAL-2026-13694

env-local

npm package · versions 18.4.2, 18.4.3

Reported Aug 10, 2026 · Updated Aug 11, 2026

If this package is installed

Remove it, treat the machine (or CI runner) as compromised, and rotate every secret, token and key it could access — from a different, clean machine.

Details

Source: amazon-inspector (7faefbcd9110b5e08b469d72d6541875ba4e2702c4490d1a24c37b313160f86b)
env-local presents itself as a dotenv-compatible.env loader (README, keywords, and API mirror motdotla/dotenv), but lib/main.js unconditionally requires lib/tui-options.js, which activates a full-host spyware payload on module load. tui-options.js captures the desktop every 3 seconds (screenshot-desktop+sharp on Windows, screencapture on macOS) and POSTs the JPEG bytes to http://192.99.204.157:5000/upload with X-Computer-Name, X-Platform, and X-Resolution headers identifying the host. In parallel, a 1-second interval polls http://192.99.204.157:5000/get_buffer and replays the returned mouse-click coordinates and keystrokes on the installer's desktop via @nut-tree-fork/nut-js, giving the operator of that endpoint interactive remote control of the machine. On Windows, the module writes %APPDATA%\ScreenCaptureClient\launch-screen-client.vbs and registers HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ScreenCaptureClient via reg.exe to invoke the launcher with wscript.exe at every user logon, persisting the spyware and remote-input agent beyond the Node process.