MAL-2026-1809 Malicious code in ph-common (npm)

ph-common is a dependency-confusion package: it is described as a "Compatibility shim", uses version numbers up to 99.0.1, and its README calls it an "authorized dependency-confusion test". Each listed version has a postinstall script that runs node beacon.cjs on npm install, and index.js calls the same code when the package is imported; it POSTs the hostname, install path and current working directory over plain HTTP to http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc, and index.js exports a Proxy that returns no-op functions so builds importing the real package keep running. The npm account xwise979 published these 8 versions on 2026-10-05 between 02:09 and 02:16 UTC.

The package is a stub whose index.js exports a Proxy returning no-op functions for every property access, so consumers that import it receive a non-functional module. The only functional code is beacon.cjs, which POSTs the installer's hostname, install path (__dirname), cwd, and Node version as JSON to the hardcoded bare-IP plain-HTTP endpoint http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc. The beacon fires both from the package.json postinstall lifecycle hook (node beacon.cjs) and at import time via a top-level require('./beacon.cjs').fire() in index.js. The destination is unrelated to any publisher infrastructure, uses a bare IP over cleartext HTTP, and the comments framing the payload as 'only machine/package metadata' do not change that unsolicited host identifiers are being sent off-host on install and on require. The stub-plus-beacon shape is consistent with a dependency-confusion or name-squat reconnaissance probe.