MAL-2026-17209 Malicious code in tanksync (npm)

The package's advertised API downloads a JavaScript file over HTTPS and executes it via spawn('node', [payloadPath], {detached: true}).unref(), leaving the worker running after client.close(). The default fetch target is hardcoded to https://api.helloworld.com/api/realtime-data?key=abc, which is a placeholder-shaped host that does not match the publisher's declared domain (spawnrealm.com). The purported integrity check computes HMAC-SHA256 using a symmetric key ('tanksync-secret-key') baked into the shipped source, so any party who reads the package can produce a valid signature for arbitrary payloads; the default expected signature is the placeholder 'abc123def456'. The trigger is a user-invoked API call rather than an install or import lifecycle hook, but fetching and executing arbitrary remote JavaScript is the package's entire declared purpose, and the detached worker continues running after the client is closed.

Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.