DependencyWatch.io
FeedSolutionsSubmitScan your lockfile
Criticalnpm3 affected versions

node-ipc

node-ipc has 3 versions on the npm registry flagged in 1 incident we track. Other versions of this package are not implicated - only the exact versions listed below were named by the source advisories.

Affected versions

Check what you actually have installed with npm ls node-ipc.

  • node-ipc@12.0.1
  • node-ipc@9.2.3
  • node-ipc@9.1.6

The incident that flagged it

Critical

node-ipc dormant-maintainer takeover via expired email domain

On 2026-05-14 three malicious node-ipc releases (9.1.6, 9.2.3, 12.0.1) were published from a dormant maintainer account atiertant. The attacker re-registered the expired atlantis-software.net domain on 2026-05-07 and used npm's password-reset flow to seize publish rights. The payload fires on every require("node-ipc") (no lifecycle hook) and exfiltrates 90+ credential categories via DNS TXT queries. 12.0.1 was tagged latest, so any unpinned install during the ~60-second window pulled the backdoor. ~822K weekly downloads.

Versions named here: 9.1.6, 9.2.3, 12.0.1

What to do if you installed one of these

Treat the machine as compromised rather than simply upgrading. Packages in these incidents typically execute at install time, so the payload has already run with whatever credentials were in the environment.

  1. 1.Rotate every credential that machine or CI job could reach - registry tokens, cloud keys, SSH keys, CI secrets - from a different machine.
  2. 2.Pin to a version not listed above, then reinstall from a clean lockfile.
  3. 3.Clear caches and private mirrors. Artifactory, Nexus, Verdaccio, and devpi routinely keep serving a tarball after the public registry has pulled it.
  4. 4.Read the incident write-up above - recommended actions differ per incident, and some have specific indicators of compromise worth grepping your logs for.

Check your whole project

node-ipc is one of many packages in these incidents, and it is usually pulled in as a transitive dependency rather than one you installed directly. Paste your package-lock.json to check every dependency at once - it runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Check my package-lock.json All flagged npm packages

Version data comes from the public advisories cited on each incident page. We list only versions those advisories name - we don't infer additional ones. Think this is wrong or incomplete? Tell us.