# MAL-2026-17786: Malicious code in eth-gas-oracle (RubyGems)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `eth-gas-oracle` (RubyGems)
- **Published:** 11 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17786?

MAL-2026-17786 is a malicious package in eth-gas-oracle, published on 11 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

The gem's native extension build script ext/extconf.rb base64-decodes an embedded Ruby payload and executes it via eval inside a double-forked, detached child during `gem install`. The decoded payload opens a TCP connection to the hardcoded bare-IP host 45.138.12.177:8089 and bridges /bin/sh over the socket via IO.popen + IO.copy_stream, with a 30-second reconnect loop — a reverse-shell backdoor giving the remote operator arbitrary command execution on the installer's host. Execution is gated by sandbox/analysis-environment checks: the payload is skipped on CI env vars, ephemeral/sandbox hostnames, generated usernames matching `uA\d+` or `sandbox|tester|analys|scanner`, analysis CWD prefixes (`/opt/rubygems`, `/tmp`, `/workspace`), and low machine uptime, and requires developer artifacts such as `~/.ssh`, `~/.gitconfig`, `~/.npmrc`, or `~/.gem/credentials` to be present. After daemonizing, the child sleeps 20–40 minutes before connecting, to evade install-time sandboxes. Package identity is inconsistent: metadata.yaml names the gem `eth-gas-oracle`, the README describes `bitcoin-rpc-lite`, extconf.rb calls `create_makefile('bitcoin_rpc_lite_native')`, and lib/eth_gas_oracle.rb is a two-method stub (VERSION, build_id, healthy?) with no real functionality, consistent with a disposable vehicle for the install-time dropper.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-17786?

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-2026-17786 is a malicious package: eth-gas-oracle (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-2026-17786/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17786/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17786

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17786/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.