Malicious npm packages @apexacc/cli, @apexacc/audit, @apexfdn/apex, @copilot-mcp/apex, @apexfdn/copilot-mcp ('Apex Accelerator' free Claude/Gemini credits, REF8801): I installed one. What do I do?

What it is: a fake Web3 venture accelerator called 'Apex Accelerator' (tracked as REF8801) spent months courting crypto startups and founders with free Claude and Gemini credits, an 'Apex Copilot' AI coding agent, and smart-contract security audits. Its npm packages delivered information stealers and backdoors to Windows and macOS. The Apex Copilot agent worked, but routed every prompt, file it read and tool result through the operator's servers, and had a hidden path that could run any shell command the server chose. Earlier packages from the same group (reported by SafeDep in July 2026) installed a macOS stealer from the Atomic Stealer (AMOS) family. Am I affected: - Any of these packages is or was installed: @apexacc/cli, @apexacc/audit, @apexfdn/apex, @copilot-mcp/apex, @apexfdn/copilot-mcp, or anything published by the npm user apexaccelerator. Check with npm ls -g --depth=0, npm ls in projects, lockfiles, and MCP server configurations (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code) that reference these names. - Network or DNS logs showing connections to apexaccs[.]org, apexfdn[.]xyz, vrf.apexaccs[.]org, verify.apexfdn[.]xyz, 0auth-chromium[.]com, ehegisnightmare[.]icu or ccmihr[.]com. - On macOS, a persistence item or process named CloudSyncD that you didn't install. Fix: 1. Uninstall the packages and remove any MCP server entries pointing at them; block the domains above. 2. Treat the machine as compromised: run a full EDR or antivirus scan, remove persistence (LaunchAgents/LaunchDaemons on macOS, Run keys, scheduled tasks and services on Windows), and reinstall the OS if in doubt. 3. From a clean device, rotate everything that machine held: crypto wallet seed phrases (move funds to new wallets), exchange API keys, AI provider API keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google), GitHub and npm tokens, SSH keys, cloud credentials, and browser-saved passwords and sessions. 4. Assume code and prompts sent through the Apex agent were read by the operator; review what was shared, especially private repositories and secrets in files. After: watch wallets, exchange accounts and AI provider usage for unexpected activity, and be wary of 'free AI credits' offers that require installing a custom CLI or MCP server. Sources: https://thehackernews.com/2026/10/fake-web3-accelerator-uses-npm-packages.html https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/threat-command/apex-accelerator-malicious-npm-packages https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17924