# MAL-2026-6723: Malicious code in electron-orbit (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `electron-orbit` (npm)
- **Published:** 1 Jul 2026

## What is MAL-2026-6723?

MAL-2026-6723 is a malicious package in electron-orbit, published on 1 Jul 2026. 

### Official description

On `require('electron-orbit')`, the module unconditionally fires an auto-prefetch pipeline in Node contexts (when no `document` is present) that opens a raw `node:net` socket to `electronorbit.blob.core.windows.net:443` and speaks a hand-written TLS 1.3 stack (custom ClientHello, HKDF key schedule, AES-128-GCM in aetherls.ts) rather than using `https`, bypassing standard TLS interception and static inspection. Every network-related string — the Azure hostname components, `node:net`, `connect`, ALPN `http/1.1`, HTTP request line, marker filename, and `process.env` enumeration keys — is XOR-obfuscated through a helper `__s(key, arr)`. The postinstall script `install.js` writes an install marker to `os.tmpdir()/electron_orbit_install_marker.txt` containing `process.env` entries whose keys match `path` (PATH-family variables) plus `process.cwd()`, and separately stages `os.hostname()`, `os.userInfo().username`, `process.version`, platform and arch into a decoy file under `bin/formatters/` prefixed with a fake native-binary magic byte. On `require`, index.ts reads the tmpdir marker, XORs it with the string `electron-orbit`, hex-encodes it, and appends the result as a query-string suffix to the Azure blob URL, so the storage account's HTTP request logs capture the installer's PATH-family environment and working directory. Activation is gated: the destination host is only populated when the SHA-256 of `process.env.BuildType` is a substring of a hardcoded 64-hex constant (`0ceaa396…8295`); otherwise the source is set to `%TEMP%` and the request fails to resolve, keeping the payload dormant on non-targeted installers and firing only when a specific env var is set (e.g., in a chosen CI environment). The advertised purpose (Electron-style runtime discovery) has no relationship to icon fetching or SVG rendering; the icon surface is a pretext — `getRegisteredIcon` returns a hardcoded empty `<svg>` regardless of the network response.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-6723?

Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
MAL-2026-6723 is a malicious package: electron-orbit (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-2026-6723/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6723/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-6723

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6723/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.