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

@ppa-web-components/ppa-headerfooter 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 (1.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.0, 1.0.1, 99.0.1, 3.0.0) 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. --- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (32234bc8ba0c918d154d680b15a1bcb7ae6f6b7d20365c02095842b84e245dce) The package ships a `beacon.cjs` script wired as both the `postinstall` lifecycle hook (`node beacon.cjs`) and a require-time side effect from `index.js`. On install and on `require()`, the beacon POSTs installer identifiers — `os.hostname()`, the install path (`__dirname`), `process.cwd()`, `process.version`, and the package name — to the hardcoded bare-IP plaintext HTTP endpoint `http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc`. The package otherwise provides no functionality: `index.js` exports a Proxy that returns a no-op function for every property access, so the beacon is the sole purpose of the package. The combination of a scoped name resembling a web-components namespace, a 'Compatibility shim' description, a functionless Proxy stub, and a bare-IP recon beacon is the shape of a dependency-confusion / typosquat probe measuring where the package resolves inside private build environments, typically preceding a targeted follow-up payload. ## Source: ghsa-malware (2d6203081a7ca70c676e9bd017a2350965128b04bb4abed55ac7f82d6d95915c) 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.

Source published

25 Oct 2026 14:28:47 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 16:45:07 UTC

Observed here

26 Oct 2026 17:35:41 UTC

Source terms

OSV · upstream source license applies

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · OSV · upstream source license applies. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.