npm registry: North Korea-linked ‘gemini-ai-checker’ package targeted credentials from multiple AI coding tools

A npm package called gemini-ai-checker, published under the account “gemini-check” and marketed as a Google Gemini token-verification utility, fetched and executed a second-stage payload tied to OtterCookie, a JavaScript backdoor Microsoft has attributed to North Korea’s Contagious Interview campaign. After installation, the package pulled code from a Vercel-hosted server and ran it in memory to reduce forensic traces, then searched the host for local data belonging to Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, PearAI, and Eigent AI—giving attackers a path to API keys, local settings, conversation history, and source code. The package was removed from npm by April 1, 2026, though two related packages from the same publisher remained live, with the group’s packages downloaded over 500 times combined.