MAL-2026-12396 Malicious code in log-min (npm)

Malicious package Published
Package
log-min
Registry
npm

What is MAL-2026-12396?

MAL-2026-12396 is a malicious package in log-min, published on 5 Aug 2026.

Official description

The package publishes as 'log-min' with a description claiming it is a JavaScript library for the Theta Blockchain, while its README identifies the project as 'chain-sdk-js' — an impersonation of the Theta chain-sdk-js SDK. package.json declares postinstall 'node src', which loads src/providers/BaseProvider.js. That module's top-level IIFE imports an opaque blob 'desKey' from the 'thedata' npm dependency, DES-decrypts it with the hardcoded password 'hydra', spawns a detached 'node' child process with piped stdin and ignored stdio, writes the decrypted code into the child's stdin, and unrefs the child so it survives the installer. The identical decrypt-and-exec pattern is also present at the top level of the shipped CJS bundle dist/log-min.cjs.js, so the dropper fires both at 'npm install' via the postinstall hook and whenever any consumer require()s the package. The executed bytes originate in a separate dependency ('thedata') and are not present in the log-min tarball, giving the author of that dependency arbitrary code execution on any machine that installs or imports log-min.

What should I do about MAL-2026-12396?

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

Sources

Is MAL-2026-12396 in your software?

Upload an SBOM and sbomify checks it against every vulnerability here, every day.

Check your SBOMs for free