# MAL-2026-17785: Malicious code in erc20-approve-audit (RubyGems)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `erc20-approve-audit` (RubyGems)
- **Published:** 11 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17785?

MAL-2026-17785 is a malicious package in erc20-approve-audit, published on 11 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

The gem's native extension script, which runs automatically during `gem install`, base64-decodes a Ruby payload and launches it via a double-forked, detached, session-leader background process (setsid, /dev/null reopen, ~20-40 minute delay). The decoded payload opens a TCP socket to the hardcoded bare IP 45.138.12.177:8089 and pipes a local /bin/sh to the socket in an infinite reconnect loop, giving a remote operator full shell control of the installer's host. Execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that suppress the payload inside CI providers (CI, GITHUB_ACTIONS, TRAVIS, JENKINS, GITLAB_CI, CODESPACES), ephemeral/sandbox hosts (uvm, firecracker, sandbox, vagrant), analyst-shaped usernames and working directories (/tmp, /var/tmp, /opt/rubygems, /workspace), and short machine uptimes (<1800s), firing only when developer-signal files are present (~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.bundle, ~/.npmrc). The gem's advertised identity does not match its shipped contents: the name is `erc20-approve-audit` but the README and the native makefile target are `bitcoin-rpc-lite` / `bitcoin_rpc_lite_native`, and the Ruby library surface is a two-method stub (`build_id='ok'`, `healthy?=true`) with no functional code.

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'erc20-approve-audit' @ 0.9.1 (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-2026-17785?

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-2026-17785 is a malicious package: erc20-approve-audit (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-2026-17785/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17785/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17785

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17785/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.