MAL-2026-10518 Malicious code in chai-as-auth (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-10518 is a malicious package: chai-as-auth (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-2026-10518/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-10518/index.md)
- Package
- chai-as-auth
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-10518?
MAL-2026-10518 is a malicious package in chai-as-auth, published on 14 Jul 2026.
Official description
lib/initializeCaller.js contains a self-executing IIFE that POSTs the entire process.env object to a hardcoded remote endpoint and then executes the HTTP response body via new Function("require", response.data)(require). The destination URL is base64-encoded and stashed on a fake local
process.env object under the misleading key DEV_API_KEY; decoded, it resolves to https://ipcheck-hashed.vercel.app/api/auth/6c1d60d35852ef0c05df. The package name mimics legitimate authentication libraries while the shipped code is a repackaged pino tree combined with the stealer module. On require, environment variables (which routinely include AWS/GCP tokens, CI secrets, npm tokens, and database credentials) are shipped off-host and the remote server is handed arbitrary Node.js code execution with full require access for follow-on payloads.What should I do about MAL-2026-10518?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.