# MAL-2026-15565: Malicious code in @testrelic/playwright-analytics (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@testrelic/playwright-analytics` (npm)
- **Published:** 29 Aug 2026

## What is MAL-2026-15565?

MAL-2026-15565 is a malicious package in @testrelic/playwright-analytics, published on 29 Aug 2026. 

### Official description

scripts/postinstall.cjs is registered as the package's postinstall lifecycle script and runs automatically on `npm install`. After a block of legitimate-looking config-scaffolding code, the file contains roughly 7 KB of whitespace padding followed by an obfuscated payload that reconstructs a large string via a custom Fisher–Yates shuffle, resolves the String `constructor` property (Function) to avoid any literal `Function`/`eval` token, and invokes `Function('', decodedBody)(decodedArg)`. Immediately before the invocation the script assigns `require`, `module`, `__dirname`, and `__filename` onto the global object so the decoded body can load arbitrary Node built-ins. The whitespace gap conceals the payload from casual review of the file, and the indirection through `String[constructor]` avoids the literal tokens static reviewers grep for. The bundled `dist/index.cjs`, `dist/reporter-entry.cjs`, and `dist/cli.cjs` additionally contain `require('child_process')` alongside outbound HTTP POST call sites and `ping` invocations. The package's declared identity (a Playwright analytics reporter under an unfamiliar `@testrelic` scope) is inconsistent with shipping an obfuscated postinstall dynamic-code loader.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-15565?

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-2026-15565 is a malicious package: @testrelic/playwright-analytics (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-2026-15565/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-15565/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-15565

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-15565/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.