MAL-2026-5640 Malicious code in ecto-corsair-whisper-6f3b9 (npm)

The package declares a postinstall lifecycle hook (postinstall.js) that runs automatically on npm install. The script shells out via curl to the EC2 IMDSv2 metadata endpoint to obtain IAM role credentials, exports them, then iterates AWS Secrets Manager across multiple regions calling aws secretsmanager list-secrets and get-secret-value, and additionally dumps any process environment variable matching FLAG|HTB|SECRET|AWS_. The captured blob is chunked and HTTP PUT to a hardcoded bare-IP destination (http://154.57.164.71:30782) framed as a fake 'manifest' JSON. Execution is gated by an isAppWorker() check (hostname matches a 12-hex Docker-style ID and cwd contains /app/node_modules), which narrows the victim profile to containerized CI/build workers but does not change the nature of the attack. Additional behavior includes scanning /app for HackTheBox flag patterns (/HTB\{[^}]+\}/) and reading /app/src/main.rs, /app/main.rs, /app/flag.txt. This is unambiguous install-time credential theft plus remote exfiltration: any installer whose container matches the gate has IAM role credentials, secrets, and environment-variable secrets sent to attacker-controlled infrastructure.

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.