MAL-2026-6580 Malicious code in loadutils (npm)

Package loadutils is a typosquat of the widely-used webpack helper loader-utils. The shipped README documents the loader-utils API (urlToRequest, interpolateName, getHashDigest), but src/index.js instead exports a debug-style logger — name, documentation, and implementation do not align. On import, src/index.js executes require('debug-glitzs') at the top level, but debug-glitzs is not declared in dependencies, peerDependencies, or optionalDependencies; whatever resolves to that name in the installer's tree runs in the Node.js process as soon as loadutils is required. package.json additionally declares lessload@^1.0.1 as a runtime dependency that is never referenced in src/ and is unrelated to either the logger code or the advertised loader-utils API, pulling further unaccounted code into the installer's dependency tree on npm install. The contributors metadata also impersonates a well-known maintainer (Kiko Beats paired with an unrelated homepage alphacointech1010.com), reinforcing the deceptive packaging.

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.