exiouss: Cookie Stealer Bundled in npm Exam Cheat

A malicious npm package named "exiouss" was published on May 1, 2026, by the account "loltestpad" as a rebranded version of the previously removed "godsplan" package, now bundling a PowerShell script that decrypts and exfiltrates Chrome, Edge, and Brave session cookies for OpenAI and ChatGPT websites. The package targets students seeking to cheat on proctored exams, an audience likely holding active ChatGPT Plus subscriptions, and represents the fourth malicious package from the same account following the April takedown of three others including a full Windows RAT. The dormant credential stealer, while not yet activated in the main execution flow, poses a significant threat to users who install the package believing it is a legitimate exam-cheating tool.

exiouss: Cookie Stealer Bundled in npm Exam Cheat Table of Contents TL;DR published to npm on 2026-05-01 from the email protected /cdn-cgi/l/email-protection loltestpad account, the same account behind ixpresso-core a full Windows RAT , godsplan , and eyevox in April before npm removed them within 48 hours. exiouss is godsplan rebuilt under a new name with the same fake description and the same internal project name. It adds one capability the April packages lacked: bin/chrome cookies.ps1 , a complete PowerShell script that decrypts and exfiltrates Chrome, Edge, and Brave session cookies for openai.com and chatgpt.com . The script is not yet wired into the main flow, but it is present and functional. Impact: - The package bundles a complete ChatGPT and OpenAI session cookie stealer targeting Chrome, Edge, and Brave via Windows DPAPI and AES-256-GCM decryption - The attacker targets students who install this to cheat on proctored exams, an audience likely to hold active ChatGPT Plus subscriptions - The loltestpad account published four packages across two campaigns, iterating from a Windows RAT to a cheating tool with a dormant credential stealer Indicators of Compromise IoC : | Indicator | Value | |---|---| | Package | | | npm maintainer | loltestpad | | Maintainer email | | | Stealth process | SearchApp.exe | | Persistence path | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics\ | | Boot log | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics\boot.log | | Kill switch file | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics\.kill watchdog | uia extract.exe SHA256 | e2fda5aa8397799669f29258f69e803cf05d322c1d93269eef6754ca024c3865 | uia extract.exe VirusTotal | 4/71 — Bkav, CrowdStrike, SecureAge, SentinelOne all ML-based | | Groq API keys | gsk A4gepFW3Jmk56yNo8w68WGdyb3FYCOvg1THlR3GzglOvQypdJkxO + 3 more in config.json | The loltestpad Campaign The loltestpad account appeared on 2026-04-14 with a throwaway email on opemails.com , a disposable mail service. Within 48 hours, it published three packages: | Package | Published | Real function | Cover description | |---|---|---|---| ixpresso-core | 2026-04-14 | Windows RAT Veltrix | “Personal AI System Agent — Control your device via WhatsApp” | godsplan | 2026-04-14 | AI exam cheating tool | ”High-performance DOM utility and diagnostic bridge” | eyevox | 2026-04-15 | Lightweight exam cheating variant | ”Professional Stealth AI Assistant with Multi-Snapshot Reasoning” | npm removed all three within 48 hours. SafeDep’s analysis of ixpresso-core is covered separately /malicious-ixpresso-core-npm-rat — it deployed a full Windows RAT with browser credential harvesting, Discord token theft, Telegram session exfiltration, and remote desktop over a Cloudflare tunnel. exiouss appeared on npm on 2026-05-01, 16 days after the April takedown. The cover description matches godsplan ’s word-for-word: “High-performance DOM utility and diagnostic bridge for modern web applications.” main.js names the project Project Phantom-Batch , identical to the April version. The internal version jumped to v12.0, indicating development continued after the takedown. Six earlier versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.10 appear in the registry time object. All six were pulled before this analysis, leaving 1.0.4 active. Both campaigns follow the same pattern: throwaway account, disposable email, fake developer-tool description, Windows-only payload, npm as distribution infrastructure. The attacker uses npm as a hosting and credibility layer, not as a poisoning vector. “Just npm install -g exiouss ” reads more legitimate than a Discord download link. The Bundled Credential Stealer bin/chrome cookies.ps1 is new to this version. The April packages did not include it. The script implements Chrome DPAPI + AES-256-GCM cookie decryption. It reads the encrypted master key from each browser’s Local State file, decrypts it with ProtectedData.Unprotect , then iterates cookies for openai.com , chatgpt.com , auth.openai.com , and auth0.openai.com across Chrome, Edge, and Brave, covering multiple browser profiles each. main.js never calls this script. It ships in the tarball for the attacker to run separately, or to wire into a future version. A valid auth.openai.com session cookie gives full ChatGPT account access without a password — the attacker can change the email, lock the original owner out, and absorb the subscription. The victim pool makes this worthwhile. Students running exam cheating tools on Windows have ChatGPT accounts, many with active Plus subscriptions they use for coursework. The exam cheat gets the attacker onto those machines. The cookie stealer monetises that access. How Students Get Infected exiouss deploys a persistent Electron overlay when run: a transparent always-on-top window invisible to proctoring screenshot capture via WDA EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE , hidden from Alt-Tab and the taskbar. The student captures the exam question using Windows UI Automation text extraction or a GDI screenshot, sends it to Groq’s LLM API via four hardcoded API keys in config.json , and the answer renders in the overlay. The package handles Safe Exam Browser by detecting its isolated secure desktop and spawning a child Electron process onto it via CreateProcessW . The uia extract.exe binary scores 4/71 on VirusTotal, all ML-based. Windows Defender shows clean. Most exam machines run no AV that catches this. The cheating tool works well enough to spread through student communities, which puts the credential stealer on a growing number of machines without additional distribution cost. Conclusion The loltestpad attacker returned 16 days after the April takedown with the same account, the same description, and the same codebase. The addition is chrome cookies.ps1 : a ChatGPT session stealer, present and functional, not yet active. The threat model is social engineering, not a poisoned lockfile. Students install this willingly. The cookie stealer sits dormant until the attacker activates it, either wired into a future version or triggered through the watchdog process that stays resident after the terminal closes. Treat any system that ran exiouss as potentially compromised. Check %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics\ for SearchApp.exe and boot.log . Rotate credentials stored in Chrome, Edge, and Brave. Revoke any OpenAI API keys stored in the browser. Run vet https://github.com/safedep/vet against your lockfiles to flag packages from recently created accounts before install. Related: ixpresso-core: Windows RAT Disguised as a WhatsApp Agent /malicious-ixpresso-core-npm-rat — the RAT from the same loltestpad campaign forge-jsx npm Package: Purpose-Built Multi-Platform RAT /malicious-forge-jsx-npm-rat — another Electron-based Windows malware pattern Malicious dom-utils-lite npm SSH Backdoor via Supabase /malicious-dom-utils-lite-npm-ssh-backdoor — fake DOM utility, real backdoor - malware - npm - supply-chain - credential-theft - campaign Author Kunal Singh https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalsin9h/ safedep.io Share The Latest from SafeDep blogs Follow for the latest updates and insights on open source security & engineering 141 npm Packages Abuse Registry as Adware Hosting /malicious-npm-terminal3airport-proxy-adware-spam npm account terminal3airport published 141 packages containing a web proxy unblocker disguised as tutoring websites. The packages load popunder ads, external monetization scripts, and Google... 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