How to remove NodeRabbit RAT from the operating system

What kind of malware is NodeRabbit?

NodeRabbit is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) written in Node.js. It lets attackers secretly run commands, manage files, collect information about the device and network, and load additional code on infected computers. The malware is cross-platform and works on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Kaspersky researchers discovered NodeRabbit while investigating infections linked to Mirage Kitten, an Iran-linked cyberespionage group also tracked as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, and Nimbus Manticore. As summarized by PolySwarm, the group lures software developers with fake job offers and booby-trapped coding tests.

NodeRabbit overview

Mirage Kitten has historically targeted strategically important organizations, mostly in the Middle East, with a focus on aerospace, aviation, and defense. In this campaign, the attackers went after the fintech, aviation, and aerospace sectors in the Middle East and Africa, including targets in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.

It is worth noting that NodeRabbit and its sibling PollCat are the group's first publicly documented malware built with Node.js and JavaScript. That choice fits the targets well - developers already have Node.js installed, so the malware blends in with their everyday tools.

Once running, NodeRabbit connects to its Command and Control (C2) server, which is hosted on Microsoft Azure. Each infected device is identified by its hostname, username, operating system version, architecture, and MAC address.

The requests the malware sends to the server are protected with AES-256-GCM encryption. This makes the traffic much harder for security tools and network administrators to inspect.

NodeRabbit's features

Kaspersky identified three versions of NodeRabbit. The first supported 11 commands, which let operators gather host and network information, list running processes, execute arbitrary shell commands, and manipulate files and folders. It could also change how often it checks in with the server and run additional Node.js scripts.

The third version expanded the command set to 23 commands. New additions include listing drives and volumes, launching and terminating processes, and a command called agent:servers that swaps the active C2 servers and saves the new configuration to disk. In other words, the attackers can move infected machines to new infrastructure whenever their old servers are blocked or taken down.

Also, this version can discover Microsoft Outlook email account addresses by examining OST and PST data files stored on the computer. For an espionage group, this is a quick way to learn which work email accounts the victim uses.

Anti-analysis and corporate network support

The second version of NodeRabbit was built with company networks in mind. Before doing anything, it checks whether it is running inside a sandbox or on a researcher's machine, looking for signs such as a small amount of memory or usernames commonly used by malware analysts.

If such signs are found, the malware sends harmless requests to Google, Microsoft, and Cloudflare and then exits. This is likely meant to make the run look like ordinary network activity rather than something suspicious.

This variant also knows how to work with corporate proxy servers. It reads proxy settings from environment variables, tunnels its traffic through HTTP CONNECT, and supports Basic, NTLM, and Negotiate proxy authentication. As a result, NodeRabbit can reach its operators even from networks where internet access goes through a company proxy.

Persistence through developer tools

The third version of NodeRabbit abuses developer tools to stay on the system. It creates a malicious Visual Studio Code extension disguised as GitHub Copilot Helper and reuses a trusted publisher name taken from extensions already installed on the device. It also tries to disable VS Code's Workspace Trust protection.

When loaded, the fake extension launches NodeRabbit as a separate, detached Node.js process. On top of that, the malware injects launchers into Git repository hooks, specifically post-merge and post-checkout, so routine actions like pulling code or switching branches start it again.

Essentially, the victim's normal development workflow becomes the trigger for the malware. Deleting the main NodeRabbit file alone may not be enough, since the fake extension and the modified Git hooks can bring it back.

Conclusion

NodeRabbit gives attackers remote control over infected computers, allowing them to run commands, handle files, gather information, and execute further code. Its encrypted communication, anti-analysis checks, and persistence through VS Code and Git make it a serious espionage threat to developers and the companies they work for. If NodeRabbit is present on your device, it should be removed immediately.

More examples of RATs are SnakeBiteAgent, PackClient, and E4del.

How did NodeRabbit infiltrate my computer?

NodeRabbit is spread through fake job offers. The attackers pose as recruiters on LinkedIn and job-search platforms and approach software engineers with appealing opportunities. As part of the supposed hiring process, the victim receives a technical assessment in the form of a downloadable coding project.

One of these lures, Front-Technical-Challenge.zip, contained a trojanized web application called TaskFlow. The first line of its server.js file imported a malicious npm package named colorized_terminal (version 2.1.0), which silently launched NodeRabbit when the project was started. Later variants were delivered the same way through a package called pretty-log.

The malicious package was bundled directly inside the archive's node_modules folder instead of being downloaded from the public npm registry, which helped it avoid detection. The attackers also set a three-hour deadline and told victims not to use AI assistants, most likely so that no AI tool would review the code and flag the hidden package.

More generally, cybercriminals distribute RATs and other malware through phishing emails, malicious attachments and links, fake download websites, malicious advertisements, pirated software, and software cracks.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with unsolicited job offers, especially when a "recruiter" asks you to download and run a coding project under a tight deadline. Before running any unfamiliar code, review its dependencies (including anything already bundled in the node_modules folder) and consider testing it in an isolated virtual machine rather than on your main work device.

Also, avoid opening attachments and links in unexpected emails or messages, download software only from official websites, and stay away from pirated programs and cracks. Keep your operating system, applications, and extensions updated, and use reputable security software. If you believe that your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

How to remove malware manually?

Most trojan infections can be removed by running a full system scan with Combo Cleaner. The full manual procedure below is for cases where automatic removal failed, where you want to verify a scan caught everything, or where the threat has multiple persistence points.

Tools you'll need

Combo Cleaner Antivirus 7-days free trial

Recommended primary scanner. VB100 certified. The 7-day free trial is available.

Microsoft Defender Offline Free · built-in

Built into Windows. Boots to a clean environment to catch rootkits.

Process Explorer Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Better than Task Manager - shows full paths and signatures.

Autoruns Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Lists every place malware can persist on your system.

Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT) Free

Official Microsoft on-demand scanner. Always-current signatures - expires every 10 days.

Phase 1~ 5 min

Contain - limit the damage

---

1

Disconnect from the network

30 secNo tool needed

Unplug your Ethernet cable and turn off Wi-Fi. If you're on a laptop, the airplane-mode key works fastest.

Why this matters

Many trojans exfiltrate data - saved browser passwords, banking sessions, screenshots - and accept remote commands. Cutting the network stops both immediately. Keep it disconnected until Phase 4.

2

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking

3 min

Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and stops most malware from auto-running. "With Networking" lets you download tools - re-enable Wi-Fi only after you've booted in.

Windows 11

Open Settings → System → Recovery. Click Restart now next to Advanced startup.

Your computer will restart into the "Choose an option" menu. Click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. After the second reboot, press 5 or F5.

Windows 10

Click the Windows logo, hold Shift, click the Power icon and choose Restart. In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. Press F5.

Windows 8

Go to the Start Screen, type Advanced, select Settings → Advanced startup options → Restart now → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup settings → Restart → F5.

Note: Windows 8 reached end-of-life in January 2023 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Windows 7

Click Start → Shut Down → Restart → OK. As the system boots, press F8 repeatedly until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, then choose Safe Mode with Networking.

Note: Windows 7 reached end-of-life in January 2020 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Phase 2~ 15 min

Identify - find what's hiding

---

3

Inspect running processes with Process Explorer

Tool: Process Explorer5 min

Download Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals. Run it as Administrator. Click Options → Verify Image Signatures and View → Lower Pane View → DLLs.

Sort by "Verified Signer." Anything unsigned running from %AppData%, %LocalAppData%, %Temp%, or %ProgramData% is suspicious. Right-click → Properties to see the full image path. Right-click → "Search Online" to look up unfamiliar process names.

Why not just Task Manager

Task Manager hides full file paths, doesn't show digital signatures, and groups processes in ways that make malware easy to miss. Process Explorer is the same tool Microsoft engineers use.

4

Map every persistence point with Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns 14.x10 min

Download Autoruns. Right-click Autoruns.exe and choose Run as administrator - without elevation, Autoruns can't inspect protected registry hives.

In the menu, open Options → Hide Microsoft Entries and Options → Hide Empty Locations, then click Refresh.

Modern trojans don't just live in startup. Walk through these tabs and look for unsigned or unfamiliar entries:

• Logon - classic Run/RunOnce keys
• Scheduled Tasks - frequent hiding spot, especially tasks with PowerShell, MSHTA, or rundll32 actions
• Services - unsigned services in non-Microsoft folders
• WMI - Event Subscriptions are a stealthy persistence mechanism (MITRE T1546.003)
• Image Hijacks - Image File Execution Options "Debugger" abuse
• AppInit - DLLs loaded into every GUI process
• Browser plug-ins - unsigned add-ons across all installed browsers

Pro tip

Right-click any suspicious entry → "Jump to Image" to see the actual file. Right-click → "Search Online" opens VirusTotal for the file hash. Don't delete yet - just write down the file paths and entry names. We'll remove them after the scans.

5

Check the hosts file and DNS settings

3 minBuilt into Windows

Trojans often redirect bank, antivirus, and update domains to attacker-controlled servers by editing the hosts file or DNS settings.

Hosts file: Open Notepad as Administrator and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Legitimate entries are commented with #. Any uncommented IP-to-domain mapping is suspicious - especially redirects for microsoft.com, windowsupdate, or your bank.

DNS settings: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run ipconfig /all. Confirm your DNS servers point to your ISP, your router, or a known public resolver (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Google 8.8.8.8). Then open Settings → Network & internet → [your adapter] → DNS server assignment and verify both DNS and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) settings haven't been hijacked.

Why this matters

A clean PC with hijacked DNS is still a compromised PC. You'll think you're at chase.com and you'll be at the attacker's clone.

Phase 3~ 60-90 min

Remove - three scans, one cleanup

---

No single antivirus catches everything. The order below is intentional: offline scan first (catches rootkits before Windows fully loads), then on-demand scanners on the running system, then manual cleanup of anything they missed.

6

Run Microsoft Defender Offline

Tool: Built into Windows15 min

Reboot to normal Windows. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options. Select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and click Scan now. Your computer will restart into a stripped-down environment and scan before the full operating system loads.

Why this comes first

Rootkits and bootkits hide from any scanner running on the same Windows session that's already infected. A pre-boot offline scan sees the disk before the malware can hide itself.

Recommended antivirus

Combo Cleaner

VB100 certified. Includes anti-trojan, registry/persistence scanning, anti-spyware in one pass. The 7-day free trial is available.

Download Combo Cleaner

7

Run Combo Cleaner full system scan

Tool: Combo Cleaner20-40 min

Install Combo Cleaner and run a full system scan (not the quick scan). Let it complete fully, review the detected threats, and apply the recommended actions. Combo Cleaner will quarantine known trojans and registry persistence.

8

Run Microsoft Safety Scanner as a second-opinion scan

Tool: Microsoft Safety Scanner15 min

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT.exe), Microsoft's free on-demand tool. The binary expires every 10 days, which means every download has the latest signatures. Run a full scan after Combo Cleaner to catch anything one engine alone might miss.

Why a second scan

Different scanning engines catch different threats. Running an additional Microsoft scan after Combo Cleaner is the single most underused verification step in malware removal.

9

Manually remove anything still listed in Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns10 min

Reopen Autoruns. Anything you flagged in Step 4 that's still present hasn't been caught by the automated scans. For each remaining suspicious entry: right-click → Delete in Autoruns (this removes the persistence registration), then navigate to the file path and delete the actual file. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Important

Some malware files reappear after deletion because something else on the system recreates them. If you delete a file and it returns within minutes, you have a remaining persistence point that Autoruns didn't show - usually a service or scheduled task running under SYSTEM. Re-run the scans from Steps 6-8 or proceed to a clean install (see end of guide).

Phase 4~ 15 min

Recover - restore browsers and security

---

10

Reset browsers and clear notification permissions

5 min

Trojans and adware frequently hijack browsers - change the default search engine, install rogue extensions, or grant themselves notification permissions to keep displaying scam pop-ups even after the malware is gone.

• Chrome: visit chrome://settings/reset and click "Restore settings to their original defaults." Then visit chrome://settings/content/notifications and remove any unfamiliar sites.
• Edge: visit edge://settings/reset. Then check edge://settings/content/notifications.
• Firefox: open about:support and click Refresh Firefox (Firefox uses "Refresh," not "Reset"). Then check Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions → Notifications.

Review installed extensions in each browser and remove anything you don't recognize, especially extensions you didn't install yourself.

11

Re-enable Defender, Tamper Protection, and update everything

10 min

Many trojans disable security software. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings and confirm Real-time protection, Cloud-delivered protection, and Tamper Protection are all turned on. Tamper Protection prevents malware from disabling Defender silently.

Then run Windows Update (Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates) and update your browsers and applications. The infection vector that let the trojan in originally usually involves outdated software.

Phase 5~ 15 min + 7 days

Verify & secure

---

12

Change passwords from a clean device

20 min⚠ Critical

If the trojan was an info-stealer (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar, and similar are extremely common), assume every password saved in your browser is compromised. Change them from a different, known-clean device - your phone is fine if it's not infected.

Recommended order:

1. Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
2. Banking and financial accounts
3. Password manager master password (if you use one)
4. Social media, shopping, and remaining accounts

Where available, enable phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (passkeys / FIDO2 hardware keys / authenticator apps) - SMS-based MFA is bypassable by sophisticated attackers.

13

Verify the clean and monitor for 7 days

5 min + 1 week monitoring

Reconnect to the network and run one final full scan with Combo Cleaner. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and switch to the Startup apps tab - confirm nothing suspicious has reappeared.

Over the next 7 days, watch for symptom recurrence: unexpected high CPU usage, unknown processes returning, browser redirects, or pop-ups. If anything returns, you missed a persistence point and the procedure needs to be repeated - or you may have a deeper compromise that requires a clean install.

When to clean install Windows instead

Manual removal isn't always the right answer. Reinstalling Windows from scratch is the only way to be 100% certain when:

• The malware reappears after every removal attempt
• A bootkit or UEFI rootkit was detected (this class of threat sits below the operating system and survives a normal Windows reinstall)
• A confirmed credential-theft trojan ran with administrator privileges (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar) - the system likely has multiple unknown payloads
• The PC is used for online banking, business email, or anything where partial doubt isn't acceptable

A clean install is a 30-60 minute process: Windows 11 reinstall via Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything → Cloud download. Back up documents to external storage first, scan the backup with Combo Cleaner before restoring it, and reinstall applications fresh - never restore them from a backup of the infected system.

Important: Manual removal requires advanced computer skills. If you're not confident identifying system files from malicious files, run an automated scan with Combo Cleaner and Windows Defender and stop there - that path catches the vast majority of consumer trojans without the risk of breaking Windows by deleting the wrong file.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

My computer is infected with NodeRabbit malware, should I format my storage device to get rid of it?

Formatting will remove NodeRabbit, but it also wipes every file on the drive. Before going that far, scan the system with a reputable security tool such as Combo Cleaner. Developers should also review their VS Code extensions and Git hooks, since NodeRabbit can hide in both.

What are the biggest issues that NodeRabbit malware can cause?

NodeRabbit gives attackers a hidden foothold on the computer. They can run commands, access and change files, collect details about the system and network, and deploy more malware. For the victim, this can lead to stolen work data, compromised corporate accounts, espionage, and a wider breach of their employer's network.

What is the purpose of NodeRabbit malware?

NodeRabbit is a cyberespionage tool. Its purpose is to give the Mirage Kitten group lasting remote access to developers' machines so they can gather information, execute commands, and push additional payloads while staying unnoticed.

How did NodeRabbit malware infiltrate my computer?

NodeRabbit has been spread through fake job offers sent via LinkedIn and job-search platforms. Victims received coding tests like Front-Technical-Challenge.zip, which carried a malicious npm package (colorized_terminal or pretty-log) that launched the RAT once the project was run.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from malware?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware, including RATs. Advanced threats like NodeRabbit tend to hide deep in the system, so running a full system scan is recommended to make sure nothing is left behind.