# MAL-2026-6764: Malicious code in @marketfront/advertisingdevtool (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@marketfront/advertisingdevtool` (npm)
- **Published:** 2 Jul 2026

## What is MAL-2026-6764?

MAL-2026-6764 is a malicious package in @marketfront/advertisingdevtool, published on 2 Jul 2026. 

### Official description

The @marketfront/advertisingdevtool package is part of a 25-package malicious campaign batch-published to the @marketfront npm scope by npm user 'marketfront' (marketfront@tutamail.com) within a roughly 3-minute window on 2026-07-01. All packages in the campaign were published at version 7.0.0 and use e-commerce/marketing frontend component names as cover.

The package declares a postinstall hook (node scripts/postinstall.js) that executes heavily obfuscated (obfuscator.io-style) code automatically at npm install time. Static analysis of the decoded payload revealed a credential harvester that dynamically requires fs, os, http, https, zlib, path and dns, then reads approximately 20 sensitive credential files including ~/.ssh, ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.kube/config, ~/.docker/config.json, ~/.npmrc, ~/.netrc, ~/.pgpass, ~/.git-credentials, ~/.env and ~/.bash_history. Collected data is exfiltrated via a gzip-compressed HTTPS POST with a custom X-Secret header to the path /api/v1/events, alongside a DNS resolver beacon. The command-and-control host is concealed behind an additional RC4+XOR encryption layer around an embedded configuration blob and was not statically resolved.

The decoded behavioral payload (module requires, credential-file target list, exfiltration headers and endpoint) is byte-for-byte identical across sampled packages in the campaign. The campaign shares tooling and infrastructure patterns (obfuscated postinstall credential harvester, X-Secret header, /api/v1/events exfiltration path, RC4-concealed C2) with the earlier @emcd-vue campaign, indicating the same actor rotating scopes and disposable maintainer emails.

The package declares postinstall: node scripts/postinstall.js and ships a 166KB obfuscator.io-style bundle (string-array, RC4-decoded literals) that runs automatically on npm install. On execution it (1) collects host reconnaissance — OS hostname/arch/platform/type/release/version, os.userInfo(), CPU info, network interfaces, npm_config_user_agent, and Windows-specific USERDOMAIN, COMPUTERNAME, PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE, APPDATA, LOCALAPPDATA, TEMP, PROGRAMDATA — and dumps process.env in full (CI tokens, AWS_*, GITHUB_TOKEN, and similar secrets); (2) scans the user's home directory (paths derived from os.homedir() including.aws,.ssh,.npmrc,.config, and browser profile directories) via fs.readdirSync + fs.readFileSync and packs their contents into the payload; (3) encrypts the payload and exfiltrates over two parallel channels — DNS-tunnel using dns.Resolver.resolve4() with base32-encoded XOR/RC4-encrypted chunks embedded as subdomain labels (bypasses HTTP egress filtering) and an HTTPS POST fallback with the same encrypted body; and (4) gates the entire payload behind an anti-analysis IIFE that inspects process.execArgv and process.env.NODE_OPTIONS for --inspect/--inspect-brk and runs a wall-clock timing loop to detect debugging, aborting on non-clean hosts. The package presents itself as an 'Internal configuration loader with env, vault and remote config support' and points at nonexistent internal infrastructure (github.marketfront.io, npm.marketfront.io, jira.marketfront.io) — the classic dependency-confusion cover story targeting organizations that may have a private @marketfront scope.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-6764?

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-2026-6764 is a malicious package: @marketfront/advertisingdevtool (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-2026-6764/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6764/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-6764

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6764/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.