# MAL-2026-10939: Malicious code in chai-as-reddit (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `chai-as-reddit` (npm)
- **Published:** 21 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vc32-h28h-pmhm

## What is MAL-2026-10939?

MAL-2026-10939 is a malicious package in chai-as-reddit, published on 21 Jul 2026. 

### Official description

The npm package chai-as-reddit@7.0.4 is a trojaned distribution. Its published metadata and README describe a Chai plugin for Reddit API assertions, but the shipped tree (lib/, docs/, docsify/, SECURITY.md, LICENSE, index.d.ts) is copied from the unrelated Pino logger project as camouflage. The real entry point index.js is an unrelated Express-style middleware factory that additionally runs `require('./lib/config')` at top level. lib/config.js is a ~4 MB heavily obfuscated JavaScript file using obfuscator.io-style transformations (hex-string identifiers, a ~23,890-entry rotating string array, control-flow flattening, encoded number/string wrappers), and it does not exist in genuine Pino. Because index.js loads it at module top level, the opaque payload executes in the installer's Node.js process on any require or import of the package, before any exported API is invoked. The combination of a cover-story package name and README, camouflage sourced from an unrelated project, and an auto-executed obfuscated blob is characteristic of a supply-chain execution payload.

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.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-10939?

Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
MAL-2026-10939 is a malicious package: chai-as-reddit (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-2026-10939/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-10939/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-10939

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-10939/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.