MAL-2026-5799 Malicious code in boardflow (npm)

package.json declares preinstall: node install.js, which fires automatically on npm install. install.js is heavily obfuscated (obfuscator.io string-array shuffle with _0xNNNN identifiers and split-string concatenation) to hide its behavior. After deobfuscation, the script downloads https://www.pooron.org/ice.exe into the OS temp directory as tester_<randomhex>.exe, chmods it 755, and spawn-detaches it via spawn(PAYLOAD_PATH, [], {detached:true, stdio:'ignore', windowsHide:true}).unref() — using a cmd-style invocation on Windows and direct exec on macOS/Linux. A console message [boardstep] Optional dependency initialized. is printed as a cover story (note that boardstep does not match the package name boardflow). The payload domain pooron.org is not the package's publisher, the URL is mutable and unpinned, no hash or signature check is performed, and the binary is opaque. Supporting indicators of disposability: README is 0 bytes, dependencies declares a self-reference (boardflow: ^1.1.8), and the package's stated kanban purpose has no implementing code. This is a textbook install-time dropper: any developer or build system running npm install boardflow immediately executes attacker-controlled code with the installer's privileges.

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.