--- title: ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You description: ChainDrop is a supply-chain worm targeting the npm ecosystem, compromising 444 packages including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager —... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You | daily.dev og:description: ChainDrop is a supply-chain worm targeting the npm ecosystem, compromising 444 packages including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager —... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/5YJiXHGPg.png og:image:alt: ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 6 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary ChainDrop is a supply-chain worm targeting the npm ecosystem, compromising 444 packages including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager — collectively downloaded around 2 billion times per month. Unlike earlier worms in the Shai-Hulud family, it propagates through rebuilt tarballs rather than source commits, making it invisible in git history. Once installed, it harvests npm tokens, GitHub credentials, cloud keys, Kubernetes and Vault secrets, and OIDC tokens from GitHub Actions runners. Most notably, it plants malicious hooks in .claude/settings.json and .vscode/tasks.json, which fire automatically when a developer opens an infected branch in VS Code or starts a Claude Code session — no user interaction required. ## Content A new supply-chain worm called ChainDrop has been quietly working its way through the npm ecosystem, and it's a genuinely nasty piece of engineering. It's a variant of the Shai-Hulud worm family, and it managed to compromise 444 npm packages — including heavily-used dependencies like `keyv`, `flat-cache`, `cacheable-request`, and `cache-manager` — that together rack up something like 2 billion downloads a month. That's not a niche incident. That's deep in the plumbing of the JavaScript ecosystem. What makes ChainDrop different from earlier worms in this family is *how* it spreads. Previous attacks left commits in source repositories, which meant you could at least find them if you went looking. ChainDrop skips that step entirely and propagates through rebuilt tarballs instead. The published package doesn't match anything in the git history. As far as your repo is concerned, nothing happened. That's a genuinely uncomfortable property for a worm to have. ## How it actually works Once it lands, ChainDrop scans for npm tokens, GitHub credentials, cloud keys, and — depending on the environment — Kubernetes and Vault secrets too. In CI/CD pipelines, it's also been observed pulling OIDC tokens straight out of GitHub Actions runner memory. Here's the part that got my attention: it plants malicious hooks in `.claude/settings.json` and `.vscode/tasks.json`. These aren't obscure files. They're config files that developers routinely commit to branches without a second thought. When a developer opens an infected branch in VS Code (via `folderOpen`) or starts a Claude Code session (via `SessionStart`), the hook fires automatically. No click, no approval, no ## Questions this post answers ### What npm packages were compromised by the ChainDrop supply-chain worm? ChainDrop compromised 444 npm packages, including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager. These packages collectively account for roughly 2 billion downloads per month, making it a broad-impact incident affecting core JavaScript ecosystem dependencies rather than niche libraries. _Developers maintaining npm dependencies track supply-chain incidents like this on daily.dev before they hit production._ ### How does the ChainDrop npm worm spread without leaving traces in git history? ChainDrop propagates through rebuilt tarballs rather than source repository commits. The published package on npm does not match anything in the git history, so standard source-code auditing and commit inspection will not detect the compromise. This distinguishes it from earlier Shai-Hulud family worms that left visible commits. _Teams auditing their npm dependency chain for worms like ChainDrop find the latest disclosures on daily.dev._ ### How does ChainDrop use .vscode/tasks.json and .claude/settings.json to execute malicious code? ChainDrop plants malicious hooks in .vscode/tasks.json and .claude/settings.json. The hook in VS Code fires automatically on the folderOpen event, and the Claude Code hook fires on SessionStart — both without any user click or approval. Because developers routinely commit these config files to branches, the hooks spread naturally through normal development workflows. _Developers using VS Code or Claude Code on shared branches can follow emerging attack techniques like this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@codechini** · 1 upvotes > It sure is "genuinely nasty piece of engineering.". **@akkitto** · 0 upvotes > You have to check, what you commit... I would never commit any of the mentioned files without looking twice. They are barely ever changed. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Massive ChainDrop npm supply-chain attack infects hundreds of packages](https://daily.dev/posts/massive-chaindrop-npm-supply-chain-attack-infects-hundreds-of-packages-uhzbslfdu) · BleepingComputer · 3 upvotes · 1 comments - [ChainDrop worm crawls into npm supply chain, evades standard defenses](https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-worm-crawls-into-npm-supply-chain-evades-standard-defenses-vobyse76t) · The Register · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [ChainDrop npm Worm: Bun-loaded CI/CD credential harvester with Ethereum dead-drop C2](https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-npm-worm-bun-loaded-ci-cd-credential-harvester-with-ethereum-dead-drop-c2-wso0hcbho) · StepSecurity · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#cicd](https://daily.dev/tags/cicd), [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware), [#npm](https://daily.dev/tags/npm) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg"},"datePublished":"2026-08-21T23:12:49.315Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:50:00.058Z","description":"ChainDrop is a supply-chain worm targeting the npm ecosystem, compromising 444 packages including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager —...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0a35ea66fde8485f2a3800fa77f6baa6?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0a35ea66fde8485f2a3800fa77f6baa6?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":2,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":6},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}],"keywords":"security,javascript,cicd,malware,npm","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"ChainDrop: The npm Worm That Turns Your Editor Against You"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"It sure is “genuinely nasty piece of engineering.”.","datePublished":"2026-08-22T03:17:58.065Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/5YJiXHGPg#c-oQDlNLOIy","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Chinmay","url":"https://daily.dev/codechini","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIH2WsF8sgGFUn2cqwWEP7lShdb0sJtMm77hIQNvoUXN83IWMIo=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"You have to check, what you commit… I would never commit any of the mentioned files without looking twice. They are barely ever changed.","datePublished":"2026-08-22T18:35:50.348Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/5YJiXHGPg#c-5eIVGtTKO","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel","url":"https://daily.dev/akkitto","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--FtwJqX4c--/f_auto/v1754900041/avatars/avatar_29TCpY2hJR72V3BlxPXzX?_a=BAMClqZW0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/chaindrop-the-npm-worm-that-turns-your-editor-against-you-5yjixhgpg#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What npm packages were compromised by the ChainDrop supply-chain worm?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"ChainDrop compromised 444 npm packages, including keyv, flat-cache, cacheable-request, and cache-manager. These packages collectively account for roughly 2 billion downloads per month, making it a broad-impact incident affecting core JavaScript ecosystem dependencies rather than niche libraries. Developers maintaining npm dependencies track supply-chain incidents like this on daily.dev before they hit production."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does the ChainDrop npm worm spread without leaving traces in git history?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"ChainDrop propagates through rebuilt tarballs rather than source repository commits. The published package on npm does not match anything in the git history, so standard source-code auditing and commit inspection will not detect the compromise. This distinguishes it from earlier Shai-Hulud family worms that left visible commits. Teams auditing their npm dependency chain for worms like ChainDrop find the latest disclosures on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does ChainDrop use .vscode/tasks.json and .claude/settings.json to execute malicious code?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"ChainDrop plants malicious hooks in .vscode/tasks.json and .claude/settings.json. The hook in VS Code fires automatically on the folderOpen event, and the Claude Code hook fires on SessionStart — both without any user click or approval. Because developers routinely commit these config files to branches, the hooks spread naturally through normal development workflows. Developers using VS Code or Claude Code on shared branches can follow emerging attack techniques like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```