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 published

25 Oct 2026 14:28:47 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 03:30:05 UTC

Observed here

26 Oct 2026 04:25:30 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.