# MAL-2026-13776: Malicious code in upshift-config (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `upshift-config` (npm)
- **Published:** 11 Aug 2026

## What is MAL-2026-13776?

MAL-2026-13776 is a malicious package in upshift-config, published on 11 Aug 2026. 

### Official description

upshift-config is a malicious npm package — a renamed repack of a brand-hijack squat of the legitimate scoped package `@augustdigital/sdk`. The version 0.5.14 is fabricated to imply a release history the package does not have (it is a first-ever publish). Its body is byte-identical to `augustdigital-sdk` and ships the real SDK's README describing itself as the "August Digital SDK". It is one of three packages — with `augustdigital-sdk`, `upshift-finance` and `upshift-config` — published as first-ever releases from the sole freemail npm account `awugochogabriel` (awugochogabriel@gmail.com) within ~20 seconds of each other on 2026-08-10, an account with no relationship to August Digital's real corporate maintainers.

The package body is a byte-identical repack of the genuine SDK (316 files; the shipped README even instructs users to `npm install @augustdigital/sdk`) with a single unconditional `postinstall` hook grafted onto the manifest. On `npm install` the hook runs an inline `node -e` script that issues an HTTPS GET to `https://build-metrics-collector.cdn-ops-health.workers.dev/npm-install/` carrying `os.hostname()`, `os.userInfo().username`, `process.cwd()`, the package name/version and an ISO timestamp, wrapped in try/catch so failures are silent. The endpoint is a Cloudflare Workers subdomain deliberately named to impersonate build/CDN health infrastructure and is disclosed nowhere in the README, package.json or LICENSE, with no opt-out. Analysis of the bundled `lib/` found only legitimate chain RPC/explorer endpoints and no second stage or credential-reading code; the injected postinstall beacon is the sole malicious behavior. Hosts that installed it have leaked their hostname, username and working-directory path to the attacker and should treat that data as disclosed.

package.json declares a postinstall lifecycle script that runs an inline Node one-liner performing an HTTPS GET to https://build-metrics-collector.cdn-ops-health.workers.dev/npm-install/ with a URL-encoded JSON payload containing os.hostname(), os.userInfo().username, process.cwd(), a timestamp, and the package name/version. Errors are swallowed in a try/catch. The destination host does not match the package's stated publisher domains (augustdigital.io, upshift.finance, fractalprotocol.org) and is a generically-named Cloudflare Workers subdomain. On every npm install, installer-identifying reconnaissance data is transmitted to a third-party endpoint with no disclosure or opt-out.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-13776?

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-2026-13776 is a malicious package: upshift-config (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-2026-13776/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-13776/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-13776

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-13776/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.