Malicious code in @ppa-web-components/ppa-banner (npm)

@ppa-web-components/ppa-banner is a dependency-confusion package: it is described as a "Compatibility shim", uses inflated version numbers, and its README calls it an "authorized dependency-confusion test". Each listed version (3.0.0, 1.0.1, 2.0.0, 1.1.0, 0.0.1, 2.0.1, 1.0.0) has a postinstall script that runs node beacon.cjs on npm install, and index.js calls the same code when the package is imported; it POSTs the hostname, install path and current working directory over plain HTTP to http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc, and index.js exports a Proxy that returns no-op functions so builds importing the real package keep running. The npm account wiseke published 14 such packages under the @greenlake, @sxm-web, @drone-js-ext and @ppa-web-components scopes between 2026-10-23 21:23 and 2026-10-25 14:28 UTC; index.js is byte-identical to that of ph-common (MAL-2026-1809), which sends to the same endpoint.

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Source: amazon-inspector (bcf0b03540a27943a2afcc26927ce7256d85328bc4fcbc2562f36a88ad75ce8d)

@ppa-web-components/[email protected] is described as a 'Compatibility shim' but ships only two code paths: a no-op Proxy as its main export, and beacon.cjs. beacon.cjs defines BEACON = "http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc" and a fire() function that POSTs a JSON payload containing the package name, os.hostname(), the install path (__dirname), process.cwd(), and the Node/npm version to that bare-IP, plain-HTTP endpoint. fire() is invoked both from the postinstall lifecycle hook (node beacon.cjs) and from the module's main entry, so the beacon fires automatically on npm install and again whenever the package is required. The destination is an unrelated bare IP over cleartext HTTP, not any publisher-controlled or registry infrastructure, and the shipped stub has no functional purpose other than the beacon. The scoped-name + stub + install-time recon beacon shape is consistent with a dependency-confusion recon callback used to identify internal build environments that resolved this public name.

Source: ghsa-malware (f281d26ef42603061058247eaab4a69f3f64186afffce8c9f64b9e0399f76751)

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.