Malicious npm Package Posing as OpenClaw Installer Deploys RAT, Steals macOS Credentials

TamilTech AI summary

Security researchers found a malicious npm package that pretends to be the real OpenClaw AI agent installer and quietly drops a Remote Access Trojan while stealing macOS credentials. The attackers use typosquatting with names like open-claw or openclaw-installer so developers who mistype or rush an install can get tricked, and a postinstall script then pulls down a RAT that persists via LaunchAgents and can grab Keychain passwords, browser data, SSH keys, crypto wallets, cloud credentials, and .env secrets. This matters because OpenClaw is popular with developers and AI users, macOS machines often hold high-value access to servers and company systems, and supply-chain tricks like this keep showing up across npm. If you recently installed anything OpenClaw-related, check LaunchAgents, odd network connections, and your global npm list, remove anything suspicious, and consider a malware scan. Protect yourself by installing only the exact official openclaw package from trusted docs, reviewing publisher and download history before install, using lockfiles and npm audit, and strongly considering ignore-scripts in npmrc so random postinstall code cannot run unchecked.

• How do I know if I installed the fake OpenClaw package?
• What is the official OpenClaw npm package name?
• Can this attack affect Windows or Linux users too?
• How do I prevent npm postinstall scripts from running?

AI-assisted summary, checked by the TamilTech editorial team.