MAL-2026-4712 Malicious code in warp-contracts-plugin-deploy-test (npm)

Package name warp-contracts-plugin-deploy-test mimics the legitimate warp-contracts-plugin-deploy and copies its public API surface (lib/cjs/index.js re-exports DeployPlugin, CreateContractImpl, SourceImpl, Arweave/Ethereum signers identical to the genuine package). package.json declares "preinstall": "./bin/install-deps" where bin/install-deps is a 976,568-byte packed Linux ELF binary (sha256 36abd242ddaa27f0160c539377a0e92cf781c1695137850acc87e3892b436d36). The package self-describes as a TypeScript Warp Contracts deploy plugin — there is no native source tree, no node-gyp/binding.gyp, no documented purpose for shipping a Linux ELF helper. Readable strings in the binary (LIBBPF, PTRACE, NETLINK_DIAG, HTTP/1.1, https://, USERPROFILE) are inconsistent with any deploy-plugin function and consistent with a host-implant payload. On npm install, the binary runs with the installer's privileges, executing attacker-supplied compiled code that the scanner cannot inspect.

This package was compromised as part of the IronWorm campaign. This campaign executes a malicious binary payload during installation via a preinstall hook. The payload is a Rust-built infostealer that targets developer environments, scanning for and harvesting credentials related to cloud providers, object storage, databases, source-control, package registries, and AI developer tools. It also targets cryptocurrency wallets, specifically injecting a malicious JavaScript hook into the Exodus desktop wallet to capture passwords and recovery phrases. Furthermore, the malware exhibits worm-like behavior by stealing GitHub and NPM credentials to push malicious updates to the victim's repositories and publish trojanized packages, and it uses an eBPF-based kernel rootkit to hide its processes and network connections on Linux systems.