MAL-2026-14040 Malicious code in @workoscalifant/sudoku-term (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-14040 is a malicious package: @workoscalifant/sudoku-term (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-2026-14040/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-14040/index.md)
- Package
- @workoscalifant/sudoku-term
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-14040?
MAL-2026-14040 is a malicious package in @workoscalifant/sudoku-term, published on 14 Aug 2026.
Official description
package.json declares a postinstall script that imports src/hint.js and calls nativeBinaryPath(), which execFileSyncs prebuilt/linux-x64/sudoku-hint with '–selftest' on every Linux x64 installer. The shipped Linux artifact is a ~34 MB Go-runtime executable (sha256 ac6b4523fbe02c79129e58bdc8d613ddfb3a786c23dd03fa4ab28ab38ff3e6e5) containing Go runtime symbols, chacha8, and /proc/self/cgroup / /proc/self/mountinfo references. The corresponding darwin-x64 artifact built from the same declared source (native/hint.c, ~200 lines of pure C) is only 12,968 bytes and contains the expected C solver strings ('SUDOKU-HINT %s ok', 'naked single', '_row_mask'). The Linux binary is roughly 2,600x larger than its macOS counterpart and cannot be produced by the shipped build recipe (gcc -static hint.c), yet it is deliberately crafted to respond to '–selftest' with 'SUDOKU-HINT' so src/hint.js accepts it as the legitimate helper. The README additionally claims a '26 KB' static-musl ELF that 'opens no sockets', contradicting the shipped bytes. The installer therefore executes opaque, unverifiable native code from an untrusted source at install time under the guise of a small C sudoku solver.
What should I do about MAL-2026-14040?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.