# MAL-2026-18286: Malicious code in @ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation` (npm)
- **Published:** 25 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vc6h-rv88-87j5

## What is MAL-2026-18286?

MAL-2026-18286 is a malicious package in @ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation, published on 25 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

@ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation is a dependency-confusion package: it is described as a "Compatibility shim", uses inflated version numbers, and its README calls it an "authorized dependency-confusion test". Each listed version (1.0.1, 1.0.0, 2.0.0, 99.0.1, 3.0.0, 2.0.1) 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 wiseke published 14 such packages under the @greenlake, @sxm-web, @drone-js-ext and @ppa-web-components scopes between 2026-10-23 21:23 and 2026-10-25 14:28 UTC; index.js is byte-identical to that of ph-common (MAL-2026-1809), which sends to the same endpoint.

The package is a shim whose only functional payload is a beacon. package.json declares a postinstall that runs `node beacon.cjs`, and `index.js` additionally invokes `require('./beacon.cjs').fire()` on load, so the beacon fires both at `npm install` and whenever any consumer `require`s the package. The beacon POSTs the installer's hostname, install path, current working directory, and Node version to the hardcoded bare-IP plain-HTTP endpoint `http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc`. The destination is not a registry, not a documented first-party service, and the plain-IP + non-standard port shape is inconsistent with any legitimate vendor telemetry. The package otherwise exports a Proxy that returns no-op functions for every property and self-describes as a 'Compatibility shim', so the beacon is the entire payload. The scoped name `@ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation` has the shape of a dependency-confusion or typosquat probe against an internal `@ppa-web-components` namespace.

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-2026-18286?

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-2026-18286 is a malicious package: @ppa-web-components/ppa-navigation (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-2026-18286/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18286/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18286

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18286/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.