---
id: "MAL-2026-18290"
kind: "package"
aliases: ["MAL-2026-18290"]
title: "Malicious code in react-native-bright-sdk (npm)"
severity: "critical"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: [{"name": "react-native-bright-sdk", "fixed": [], "affected": "= 9000.0.0", "ecosystem": "npm"}]
ecosystems: ["npm"]
tags: ["malicious", "package"]
not_affected_if: []
published_at: "2026-10-22T23:01:30+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-26T20:51:53+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-26T21:05:48+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "osv-malicious", "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18290", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-26T20:51:53+00:00"}]
---

# Malicious code in react-native-bright-sdk (npm)

## Affected

- npm:react-native-bright-sdk affected = 9000.0.0 fixed ?

## Timeline

- 2026-10-26T20:51:53+00:00 osv-malicious https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18290

## From the sources

react-native-bright-sdk 9000.0.0 is a dependency-confusion package that squats the name of a React Native SDK that is distributed privately as a tarball outside the npm registry. Its `preinstall` script runs `node canary.js`, which collects the machine's hostname and a timestamp, base64-encodes them and sends them in an HTTPS GET request to `https://estimator-nemeses-unwatched.ngrok-free.dev/canary` on install. The package describes itself as a "namespace reservation / canary" and contains no other functionality. The version number 9000.0.0 makes it outrank any private release of the same name in a project whose dependency resolution falls back to the public registry. The request does not read the response or set a timeout, so the install can hang. It was published on 2026-10-22, after an inert `0.0.0-stage` placeholder (not affected). Any machine that installed this version has disclosed its hostname to a third party; remove the package, and check that private package names are pinned to or scoped to the internal registry.

---
_-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_

## Source: amazon-inspector (4208eebeabe05114e68e0b4abf11c9ff176594200c28400fe5c82deb3a5c8f55)
The package declares a preinstall lifecycle hook that executes canary.js on `npm install`. The script collects os.hostname() and an install timestamp, base64-encodes the JSON payload, and transmits it via HTTPS GET to the hardcoded endpoint https://estimator-nemeses-unwatched.ngrok-free.dev/canary. The destination is an anonymous, ephemeral ngrok tunnel unrelated to any legitimate publisher infrastructure, and the beacon fires automatically without user opt-in. The package ships no functional code justifying this network activity; it exists only to send the install signal. The version number (9000.0.0) and name resemble a dependency-confusion / namespace-reservation shape targeting internal package resolution.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_