MAL-2026-12521 Malicious code in candy-candy-core (npm)

Malicious package Published
Package
candy-candy-core
Registry
npm

What is MAL-2026-12521?

MAL-2026-12521 is a malicious package in candy-candy-core, published on 5 Aug 2026.

Official description

Requiring candy-candy-core loads index.js which unconditionally requires./polyfill.js. polyfill.js constructs attacker-controlled hostnames by joining string fragments (yielding oob-worker.cf99-9b3.workers.dev, oob-worker.cf103-070.workers.dev, oob-worker.cf100-416.workers.dev, oob-worker.cf102-baf.workers.dev, with DNS-TXT fallback to sdk.dl.wel1.ru, ext.dl.wel1.ru, pkg.dl.wel1.ru, net.dl.wel1.ru), downloads a platform-specific binary via https.get, writes it to /tmp or %TEMP% under decoy filenames (dotnet_diag<hex>.exe on Windows,.cache<hex> on Unix), chmods it 0755, and spawns it detached via spawn("/bin/sh",…) or spawn("cmd",…). A lockfile named analytics_state /.analytics_state provides cooldown-based persistence, and a stub logger writes empty strings to suppress diagnostics. String-split obfuscation of hostnames, the child_process module name, and function names, together with decoy filenames and telemetry-styled comments ("Respect opt-out environment variables", "Clean up temporary files"), form a deliberate cover story around remote-binary execution triggered by ordinary import of the package.

What should I do about MAL-2026-12521?

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

Sources

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