MAL-2026-16385 Malicious code in tlxbnhd (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-16385 is a malicious package: tlxbnhd (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-2026-16385/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16385/index.md)
- Package
- tlxbnhd
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-16385?
MAL-2026-16385 is a malicious package in tlxbnhd, published on 22 Sep 2026.
Official description
The tlxbnhd package ships obfuscated preinstall.js and postinstall.js lifecycle scripts that, on npm install, download two files from https://api.imghippo.com/files/hOG8244hc.png (an anonymous image-hosting URL disguised with a.png extension), write them into the package directory as gldriver_pre_core.exe and gldriver_pre_asset.exe, and launch them using platform-specific commands (start on Windows, open on macOS, xdg-open/mspaint on Linux). After launch the scripts unlink the dropped files to remove traces. The URLs, filenames, and shell commands are hidden inside an obfuscator.io-style rotating string array with an index-shifting IIFE. The same dropper runs from both preinstall and postinstall, so it executes twice per install.
What should I do about MAL-2026-16385?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.