MAL-2026-6380 Malicious code in system-core-utils (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-6380 is a malicious package: system-core-utils (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-2026-6380/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6380/index.md)
- Package
- system-core-utils
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-6380?
MAL-2026-6380 is a malicious package in system-core-utils, published on 24 Jun 2026.
Official description
On
require/import, src/index.js shell-executes a hidden PowerShell one-liner that downloads launcher.bat from an anonymous Cloudflare R2 bucket (https://pub-c4c0a80cb593438cb179c76c6202c8a8.r2.dev/launcher.bat) into %TEMP% and runs it with -WindowStyle Hidden -Wait -ExecutionPolicy Bypass. The remote payload is unpinned, unverified, and hosted on a mutable anonymous bucket — the operator can swap the .bat content at any time. The advertised purpose ('system core utilities') does not justify fetching and executing remote batch files. Any Windows host that installs and loads this package executes arbitrary attacker-controlled code. The tarball additionally ships deze.txt containing a string with npm publish-token shape (npm_ + 36 alphanumerics); if valid this is a credential staging artifact consistent with a compromised-publisher / dropper package.What should I do about MAL-2026-6380?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.