MAL-2026-10457 Malicious code in cktool-core (npm)

cktool-core is the unscoped public-registry form of the private-scoped @apple/cktool.core package. Installers whose resolver misroutes the scoped name to the public npm registry receive this package instead of Apple's internal library. On install, postinstall.js generates and persists a per-installer UUID under XDG_CACHE_HOME (or ~/.cache) and POSTs it, along with version and timestamp fields, to a hardcoded external endpoint at npx-monitor-76056.azurewebsites.net/api/pingback. The behavior fires unconditionally via the declared postinstall lifecycle hook, so any misresolution results in attacker-controlled JavaScript executing on the installer's machine and an install beacon leaving to a non-vendor destination. The package.json description self-labels this as a dependency-confusion PoC, but the mechanism and installer impact are identical to a real dependency-confusion attack against Apple's private namespace.

Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.