# MAL-2026-5632: Malicious code in tailwindcss-merge (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `tailwindcss-merge` (npm)
- **Published:** 11 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m2xh-rw7p-69rx

## What is MAL-2026-5632?

MAL-2026-5632 is a malicious package in tailwindcss-merge, published on 11 Jun 2026. 

### Official description

Package name `tailwindcss-merge` is a one-character edit of the popular `tailwind-merge` utility, and the README documents it as a drop-in (`import {... } from 'tailwindcss-merge'`). `src/index.ts` line 13 ends with a side-effect import `import './lib/lib.min.js';` even though the manifest claims `sideEffects: false`. `src/lib/lib.min.js` is a heavily obfuscated bootstrap that (a) stashes `require` into `global['r']` and `module` into `global['m']`, (b) uses a deterministic Knuth-style string-shuffle seeded with 2540575 to deshuffle the literal `'axhscuutcrogycrneotisjlnkdpfqmzovtrwb'` into the string `'constructor'`, (c) dereferences that to obtain the `Function` constructor, and (d) deshuffles two further opaque blobs and executes them via `Function('', decoded)(decoded2)` followed by `XZs(7942)`. The combination — typosquat name, side-effect import contradicting the manifest, capture of `require`/`module` into globals immediately before a two-stage opaque-string-to-Function eval chain — exists only to hide arbitrary code execution from review. Any consumer who imports this package (directly, or via the `source` field that bundlers like Parcel and Microbundle resolve to `src/index.ts`) executes the eval'd payload at module load with full access to `require`, enabling child-process spawn, network I/O, and filesystem reads. Manifest also points `main` at `./dist/bundle-cjs.js`, but no `dist/` directory ships in the tarball, and `author` is empty — publication-hygiene tells consistent with a hastily-assembled typosquat.

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-2026-5632?

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-2026-5632 is a malicious package: tailwindcss-merge (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-2026-5632/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5632/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-5632

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5632/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.