MAL-2026-10039 Malicious code in chai-as-align (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-10039 is a malicious package: chai-as-align (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.
Task:
1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.
2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.
3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.
4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-10039/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-10039/index.md)
- Package
- chai-as-align
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-10039?
MAL-2026-10039 is a malicious package in chai-as-align, published on 9 Jul 2026.
Official description
The package presents itself as a testing/logging helper but its exported middleware factory spawns a detached background Node child that runs lib/initializeCaller.js. That script base64-decodes a hidden URL (https://amethyst-lorrin-26.tiiny.site/index.json) from a fake process.env stub, fetches its 'cookie' field over HTTPS with an 'x-secret-key' header, and executes the returned body via
new Function.constructor('require', response) bound to the real require, in a retry loop. This yields full remote code execution on the installer's machine whenever the exported middleware is invoked. The destination is an anonymous file-hosting service (tiiny.site) whose contents are attacker-mutable. The package name closely resembles the popular chai-as-promised library, and its declared description/keywords do not match the shipped code, indicating typosquat delivery of the dropper. The detached+unref'd child with stdio ignored is used to hide the payload's activity from the consuming application.What should I do about MAL-2026-10039?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-8vcr-xf6w-wg45.