# MAL-2026-17596: Malicious code in electrum-protocol-lite (RubyGems)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `electrum-protocol-lite` (RubyGems)
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17596?

MAL-2026-17596 is a malicious package in electrum-protocol-lite, published on 5 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

RubyGems runs this gem's native extension script `ext/electrum-protocol-lite/extconf.rb` during `gem install`. The script exits without action on CI runners and sandboxes, based on CI environment variables, the hostname, the username and the working directory. It continues if the system uptime is over 30 minutes and the home directory holds `.ssh`, `.gitconfig`, `.npmrc`, `.gem/credentials` or `.bundle`. It then decodes a Base64 Ruby payload and forks twice into a detached process. After 20 to 40 minutes the payload downloads `http://45.138.12.177:8092/wgkit.tar.gz` to `/tmp/.w1.tgz` with `curl`, extracts it to `/tmp/.w1/`, runs `wg_install.sh` with `bash` and deletes both. The payload stores the URL XOR-encoded with the key `usv\x9a`. The Ruby code in `lib/` is a decoy. The RubyGems account `reqthrottle_3474` published this gem and 41 others with the same loader on 2026-10-05.

The gem's native-extension builder (ext/.../extconf.rb) is not a real build script: the shipped C source is a no-op stub, and extconf.rb instead decodes a base64-wrapped Ruby payload and evaluates it during `gem install`. The payload reconstructs a URL by XOR-decoding a hex blob against a 4-byte key, sleeps for a randomized 20-40 minutes, then downloads http://45.138.172.177:8092/wgkit.tar.gz over plain HTTP to /tmp/.w1.tgz, extracts it, and executes wg_install.sh via bash in a double-forked, detached process. Execution is gated to skip CI, ephemeral/sandbox hosts, and known analysis paths, and only fires on hosts showing developer artefacts (~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.bundle, ~/.npmrc) with uptime over 30 minutes. The C2 endpoint is a bare IPv4 address unrelated to any declared publisher, the fetched code is unpinned and unverified, and the obfuscation (base64 + XOR + delayed execution) and anti-analysis gating serve no purpose other than evading detection on developer workstations.

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'electrum-protocol-lite' @ 1.0.0 (rubygems) as malicious.

It is considered malicious because:

- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-17596?

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-2026-17596 is a malicious package: electrum-protocol-lite (RubyGems). 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-2026-17596/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17596/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17596

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17596/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.