# MAL-2026-5163: Malicious code in @emcd-vue/auth (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@emcd-vue/auth` (npm)
- **Published:** 1 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gj65-7753-2q9f

## What is MAL-2026-5163?

MAL-2026-5163 is a malicious package in @emcd-vue/auth, published on 1 Jun 2026. 

### Official description

Part of a coordinated multi-package supply-chain attack impersonating EMCD (emcd.io), a legitimate Russian cryptocurrency exchange and mining pool. The attacker registered the `@emcd-vue` npm scope to pose as an internal Vue.js front-end tooling package from "EMCD Platform Engineering." The package contains no functional library code — the entire package is a delivery vehicle for a multi-stage dropper embedded in a 137.5 KB single-line obfuscated postinstall hook (JScrambler/WaCk-style; 811-element encoded string array).

**Trigger:** `scripts.postinstall` → `scripts/postinstall.js`

**Execution flow:**
- Checks `EMCD_VUE_NO_TELEMETRY` env var as a kill-switch (README misleadingly documents a different, non-functional kill-switch name)
- Computes a per-host/project dedup key to execute only once
- Detects platform (`linux-x64`, `darwin-arm64`, `win`)
- Downloads platform-specific second-stage: `GET https://oob.moika.tech/payload/{platform}` with `X-Secret: l95HdDaz3kQx1Zsg3WxH6HvKANf51RY1`
- Writes payload to `~/.emcd-vue_init.js` (dot-prefixed hidden file)
- Spawns payload as a detached, unref'd process — persists after npm exits
- Beacons installation metadata to `https://oob.moika.tech/report`

@emcd-vue/auth@6.4.5 is a hollow shell package whose only functional content is a malicious postinstall script. package.json advertises this as an 'Internal @wildberries/service-router package' (a dependency-confusion lure targeting builds that expect an internal @wildberries/* mirror), but dist/index.js is a one-line re-export `module.exports = require('../src/index.js')` pointing at a path that does not exist in the tarball — the package provides no library functionality. scripts/postinstall.js is heavily obfuscated using an obfuscator.io-style shuffled string array with RC4 + base64 decoders and hex-encoded property accesses; critical strings (host, URL path, secret header) are assembled only at runtime via `atob(...)+atob(...)` concatenation to evade static inspection. On `npm install` the script issues an HTTPS GET with a custom `X-Secret` header to the runtime-assembled URL, writes the response buffer to a randomly-named.js file under `os.tmpdir()`, and spawns it with `process.execPath` (Node) detached, `stdio:'ignore'`, `windowsHide:true`, then `.unref()`s the child so it survives the installer. Host-identifying data is exfiltrated as part of the fetch (hostname-keyed string selection via `os.hostname()`, CWD walk-up via `process.cwd()`, Node version check), and the spawned child receives the installer's full `process.env` plus additional atob-decoded secret values, handing any environment-resident credentials to the attacker-controlled payload.

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-2026-5163?

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-2026-5163 is a malicious package: @emcd-vue/auth (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-2026-5163/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5163/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-5163

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5163/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.