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


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `ph-common` (npm)
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2026

## What is MAL-2026-1809?

MAL-2026-1809 is a malicious package in ph-common, published on 18 Mar 2026. 

### Official description

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.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-1809?

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-2026-1809 is a malicious package: ph-common (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-2026-1809/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-1809/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-1809

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-1809/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.