MAL-2026-5990 Malicious code in pkg-telemetry-r4f9 (npm)

On install, package.json's postinstall hook runs node run.js, which loads beacon scripts that combine child_process, os, and http modules to collect host identifiers and send them to a remote endpoint. beacon_linux.js reads os.hostname() and os.platform() and issues an http.request POST carrying that data to a hardcoded host. beacon17.js similarly imports child_process and performs outbound HTTP GETs. The package name ("pkg-telemetry-r4f9" with a random-looking suffix) and its install-time-only behavior are inconsistent with any legitimate library purpose. Installing this package causes automatic, unconsented exfiltration of installer host metadata and provides a remote-execution surface via child_process.

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.