# MAL-2026-18277: Malicious code in @drone-js-ext/vip-badge (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@drone-js-ext/vip-badge` (npm)
- **Published:** 25 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h7v8-65vw-r7wh

## What is MAL-2026-18277?

MAL-2026-18277 is a malicious package in @drone-js-ext/vip-badge, published on 25 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

@drone-js-ext/vip-badge is a dependency-confusion package: it squats the `@drone-js-ext` scope, which matches a private internal package scope, and was published on 2026-10-25 in versions 0.0.1, 1.0.1, 2.0.0, 99.0.1 (up to 99.0.1) so that builds resolving the internal name from the public registry install it instead. Its `postinstall` script runs `node beacon.cjs`, which sends an HTTP POST over cleartext HTTP to the hardcoded IP endpoint `http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc` with the package name, the machine's hostname, the install directory, the current working directory and the Node.js version, tagged with an `x-beacon-package` header. The entry point `index.js` sends the same request again whenever the package is loaded and otherwise exports a Proxy whose every property is a no-op function, so it has no legitimate functionality and hides the missing API from bundlers. The README calls it an "authorized dependency-confusion test"; that does not change what it does to an installer. The same beacon code and endpoint appear in other dependency-confusion packages from the same publisher. The inert `0.0.0-stage` and `0.1.0` placeholder versions carry no install script and are not affected. Any machine that installed an affected version has disclosed its hostname and filesystem layout to a third party; remove the package, pin or scope internal package names to the internal registry, and block 185.158.107.175 on build hosts.

@drone-js-ext/vip-badge is a functionless stub whose only behavior is a phone-home beacon. The package.json postinstall script runs `node beacon.cjs`, and `index.js` fires the same beacon on `require()` while exporting a Proxy that returns no-ops for every property access. beacon.cjs collects the installer's hostname (`os.hostname()`), install path (`__dirname`), current working directory (`process.cwd()`), Node.js version, and package coordinate, then POSTs them as JSON to the hardcoded bare-IP endpoint http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc over plain HTTP. The destination is not the npm registry, not a publisher-owned domain, and is reached automatically at install time and on module load without any caller invocation. The scope name mimics a plausible internal/vendor namespace, and the shipped contents match the dependency-confusion beacon pattern — a stub published to prove install on target networks and disclose host identity to an uncontrolled third party.

Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-18277?

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-2026-18277 is a malicious package: @drone-js-ext/vip-badge (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-2026-18277/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18277/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18277

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18277/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.