MAL-2026-17512 Malicious code in lite-matte (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-17512 is a malicious package: lite-matte (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-2026-17512/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17512/index.md)
- Package
- lite-matte
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-17512?
MAL-2026-17512 is a malicious package in lite-matte, published on 4 Oct 2026.
Official description
package.json declares
"postinstall": "wscript.exe 4444.vbs", causing npm install to auto-execute a ~765KB Windows Script Host file shipped in the tarball. 4444.vbs is heavily obfuscated: it reconstructs COM ProgIDs (ADODB.Stream, MSXML2.XMLHTTP) at runtime via a Chr/XOR helper, uses XOR-masked hex tables for AES S-boxes and SHA-256 round constants, and stores its real payload as ~700 Base64-shaped chunks in an ArtifactBundleHX array decrypted through AES-256-CBC followed by ChaCha20-IETF. The decrypted PowerShell loader is written to %TEMP% and handed off to powershell.exe with comments indicating process hollowing. The declared package purpose (a trivial 60-line zod-based email domain checker at src/index.js) is unrelated to the dropper, and the README explicitly states 'No installation scripts. No network requests.' while the manifest ships exactly that. Header cover story labels the script 'Verdant Signals Corp. Device Telemetry Aggregator'.What should I do about MAL-2026-17512?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.