CVE-2026-48161 react18-use was vulnerable to malicious code execution via compromised commits
Malicious commits in react18-use executed remote code on developer machines during npm install, requiring credential rotation and machine cleanup.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-48161?
CVE-2026-48161 is a critical vulnerability in dai-shi react18-use, published on 10 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim. Between 2026-05-19 01:07:01 and 2026-05-19 15:20:43, the default branch contained malicious commits 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 through 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 that executed remote attacker-controlled code on developer machines during `npm install`. The commits were removed by force-push, but local clones, forks, and direct-SHA URLs may still contain them, and `npm install` against an affected checkout will still execute the code today. The package was not published to npm. `src/install.js` was added and wired into the `postinstall` script. It fetched a JavaScript payload from an attacker-controlled HTTPS endpoint (configurable via an environment variable), disabled TLS verification, and evaluated the response as code with `require` available. Execution was deliberately skipped on CI and cloud/serverless environments, targeting developer workstations. The second-stage payload was attacker-hosted and cannot be reconstructed. Assume full compromise of anything reachable from a Node process with the user's permissions. Those who ran `npm install` against an affected checkout on a developer machine on or after 2026-05-19 01:07:01 should treat the machine as compromised, rotate every credential the machine could reach, audit account activity since 2026-05-19 01:07:01, and clean local clones.
Weakness: CWE-506
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-48161?
How do I fix CVE-2026-48161?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-48161 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-48161 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-48161 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-32xh-vg5f-64fm.