MAL-2026-17790 Malicious code in mev-sandwich-detect (RubyGems)

mev-sandwich-detect 0.9.1 is a stub gem whose only functional behavior is install-time code execution. The gemspec declares a native extension, but ext/extconf.rb ships no C/C++ sources and does not build an addon; instead it base64-decodes an embedded Ruby payload and eval()s it inside a double-forked, detached, output-silenced child process during gem install. The decoded payload opens a TCPSocket to the hardcoded host 45.138.12.177 on port 8089 and bridges it to /bin/sh via IO.popen and IO.copy_stream, yielding an interactive shell on the installer's host to the operator of that IP. Execution is gated by anti-analysis checks: the payload exits early if the host appears to be CI, an ephemeral/sandbox VM, a generated analyst username, or running under /tmp or /opt/rubygems analysis paths, and requires uptime over 1800 seconds and the presence of developer-credential artifacts (~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.npmrc, ~/.bundle) before dialing out, after sleeping a randomized 20-40 minutes. The lib/ entry point is a 13-line no-op defining only VERSION/build_id/healthy?, and the README is mislabeled as 'bitcoin-rpc-lite'. The native-extension slot exists solely as a lifecycle execution vector for the reverse shell.