# MAL-2026-17875: Malicious code in monkey-tags-ip (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `monkey-tags-ip` (npm)
- **Published:** 13 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17875?

MAL-2026-17875 is a malicious package in monkey-tags-ip, published on 13 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

npm user 'conx3993' published this package in a dependency confusion campaign. It squats a name that looks like an internal package and uses version 53.4.1 so misconfigured resolvers pick it over the real one. Version 0.0.0-stage is an empty placeholder. A 'preinstall' hook runs 'ip.js', which poses as an IP geolocation helper. On install it sends an HTTPS GET to attacker-controlled host realwbx.com (/ip?f=json) with a hard-coded 'Authorization' value ('Bearer xHlT6gllTfGbKgdivAKTzWKxrILWlNlv') unique to this package, then discards the response. The token tells the operator which internal package name the victim installed, and the request reveals the victim's public egress IP.

monkey-tags-ip@53.4.1 is a stub package whose entire behavior is an install-time beacon. The `preinstall` script executes `node ip.js`, which unconditionally makes an HTTPS GET to the hardcoded host `realwbx.com/ip?f=json` with a hardcoded Bearer token on every `npm install`, disclosing the installer's source IP and install event to a destination unrelated to the package publisher. The manifest also declares a runtime dependency on a registry package named `https` (^1.0.0), while the code uses Node's built-in `https` module; this shadows the built-in name with whatever bytes the registry serves for `https`, resolving and installing third-party code the package does not own. The package has no legitimate functionality — the beacon and the confusable dependency are its sole content.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-17875?

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-2026-17875 is a malicious package: monkey-tags-ip (npm). 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-2026-17875/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17875/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17875

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17875/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.