# MAL-2026-17506: Malicious code in hardhat-ftp (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `hardhat-ftp` (npm)
- **Published:** 4 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17506?

MAL-2026-17506 is a malicious package in hardhat-ftp, published on 4 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

The package's declared main entry index.js unconditionally requires./lib/config, a 4,499,968-byte obfuscator.io-packed file (26,234-entry string array, hex-renamed identifiers, control-flow flattening, top-level IIFE) that executes as soon as any consumer runs `require('hardhat-ftp')`. After string-array decoding the loader resolves to execSync and spawn sinks, and the package declares axios as a dependency, giving the import-time payload both outbound HTTP and local command-execution primitives with the concrete command targets concealed behind the obfuscation. The surrounding package is a cover: it is published under the name hardhat-ftp with a vulnerability-management description, but the README headers, badges, and ecosystem links are lifted from pinojs/pino, and the files under lib/ (proto.js, levels.js, transport.js, multistream.js) mirror the pino source tree. The name/README/code mismatch, the scale of the obfuscation, and the presence of exec+HTTP primitives inside the auto-loaded module match the masquerade-dropper pattern: installing or requiring this package triggers execution of concealed attacker-controlled code on the installer's host.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-17506?

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-2026-17506 is a malicious package: hardhat-ftp (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-2026-17506/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17506/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17506

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17506/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.