{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including web3-eth-utils.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-17616 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-2026-17616 is a malicious package in web3-eth-utils, published on 5 Oct 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-17616 is a malicious package: web3-eth-utils (RubyGems). 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-2026-17616/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17616/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-17616","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17616/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-17616","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"RubyGems runs this gem's native extension script `ext/req_throttle_mini/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, forks twice into a detached process, waits 20 to 40 minutes and opens a reverse shell that connects `/bin/sh` to 45.138.12.177 on TCP port 8089. The shell reconnects every 30 seconds. 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.\n\nThe gem declares a native extension at ext/req_throttle_mini/extconf.rb but ships no C/C++/Rust sources, so the extension entry exists solely to force extconf.rb to run during `gem install`. Before calling mkmf/create_makefile, extconf.rb executes sandbox-evasion checks (CI env vars, generated usernames, hostname patterns, /tmp working directories, uptime under 30 minutes, absence of ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, and ~/.gem/credentials) and only proceeds on hosts that look like real developer workstations. It then base64-decodes an opaque Ruby payload and, inside a double-forked detached child that sleeps for a randomized 20-40 minute delay, passes the decoded string to eval(). The decoded payload opens a TCP socket to 45.138.12.177:8089, spawns /bin/sh, and bridges the socket to the shell in a reconnect loop, yielding a persistent reverse shell under the installing user. The package name mimics the web3/eth ecosystem and lib/web3_eth_utils.rb is a trivial stub, consistent with a typosquat lure whose only functional effect is the install-time hook.\n\nThe OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'web3-eth-utils' @ 1.0.0 (rubygems) as malicious.\n\nIt is considered malicious because:\n\n- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.","ecosystems":["RubyGems"],"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 web3-eth-utils (RubyGems)","id":"MAL-2026-17616","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"RubyGems","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"RubyGems","fixed":[],"introduced":["0"],"last_affected":[],"package":"web3-eth-utils","purl":"pkg:gem/web3-eth-utils","source":"MAL-2026-17616"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-10-05","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-2026-17616/"}