TC-2026-0012 · NPM · PACKAGE

[email protected]

Malicious dependency injected into [email protected] and [email protected]; executes a cross-platform remote access trojan via postinstall script.

Primary advisory (StepSecurity / Socket) Back to all 66 records

Signed ledger verdict

TC-2026-0012
Known bad (exit 2) npm:[email protected]

IOC & scope: npm:[email protected]. Verified by human review and signed into the CC-BY 4.0 OSV v1.6.0 feed.

Credited finder
StepSecurity / Socket ↗
Recorded timestamp
2026-03-31
Canonical SHA-256
8dfbd72a31e34af9…
Local hook action
Block (exit 2)
Run live in Counter Workbench

Signed in /feed.json (.sig).

01 8-Vector Capability X-Ray (ABOM) & OWASP Agentic Crosswalk

Deterministic capability profile and taxonomy mapping.

Every artifact in the threat.cafe ledger is profiled across eight execution vectors and mapped to the OWASP Top 10 for Agentic Applications (ASI01-ASI10) and Agentic Skills & Tools (AST01-AST10).

8-Vector Capability X-Ray (ABOM)

  1. 1. Filesystem
    Sensitive paths touched: ~/.ssh/*, ~/.aws/*
  2. 2. Environment
    Variables harvested: process.env.*
  3. 3. Network
    Outbound egress domains: plain-crypto-js-c2.invalid:443
  4. 4. Subprocess
    Process execution primitives: node postinstall.js
  5. 5. Lifecycle
    Install / startup hooks: postinstall
  6. 6. OAuth / MCP
    Declared scopes: None observed
  7. 7. Obfuscation
    Encoding / steganography: xor_hex_payload
  8. 8. Provenance
    Attestation status: attacker_staged_package

Governance & detector mapping

  1. OWASP Agentic ASI (2026): ASI04 (Agentic Supply Chain Vulnerabilities), ASI05 (Unexpected Code Execution (RCE))
  2. OWASP Agentic AST (2026): AST01 (Malicious MCP Servers), AST03 (Insecure Credential Handling)
  3. Deterministic rules matched: RULE_04_INSTALL_LIFECYCLE_HOOK, RULE_05_PROMPT_EXFIL_SHELL, RULE_06_RELEASE_AGE_GATE

Version scoping & related records

  • No other versions of this package are currently listed on the board. Unlisted versions evaluate to unknown under local policy.yml.

Local CLI verification

$ threat-cafe-hook check "npm:[email protected]"
[threat.cafe] known_bad: npm:[email protected] (TC-2026-0012)
  Reason: Malicious dependency injected into [email protected] and [email protected]; executes a cross-platfor
  Source: https://www.stepsecurity.io/blog/axios-compromised-on-npm-malicious-versions-drop-remote-access-trojan (credited to StepSecurity / Socket)

OSV v1.6.0 machine-readable record

Included in /feed.json under CC-BY 4.0 license and verified by /feed.json.sig.

{
  "schema_version": "1.6.0",
  "id": "TC-2026-0012",
  "modified": "2026-03-31T08:25:00Z",
  "published": "2026-03-31T08:25:00Z",
  "summary": "Malicious dependency injected into [email protected] and [email protected]; executes a cross-platform remote access trojan via postinstall script.",
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "plain-crypto-js"
      },
      "versions": [
        "4.2.1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "credits": [
    {
      "name": "StepSecurity / Socket",
      "type": "FINDER"
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://www.stepsecurity.io/blog/axios-compromised-on-npm-malicious-versions-drop-remote-access-trojan"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://threat.cafe/incidents/tc-2026-0012/"
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "target": "npm:[email protected]",
    "kind": "package",
    "verdict": "known_bad",
    "ioc": "npm:[email protected]",
    "artifact_sha256": "8dfbd72a31e34af902ee9a95e52eeb66b126187c5811f1ad40430a90fe743055",
    "owasp_asi": [
      "ASI04",
      "ASI05"
    ],
    "owasp_ast": [
      "AST01",
      "AST03"
    ],
    "rules_matched": [
      "RULE_04_INSTALL_LIFECYCLE_HOOK",
      "RULE_05_PROMPT_EXFIL_SHELL",
      "RULE_06_RELEASE_AGE_GATE"
    ],
    "abom": {
      "fs_sensitive": [
        "~/.ssh/*",
        "~/.aws/*"
      ],
      "env_harvest": [
        "process.env.*"
      ],
      "net_egress": [
        "plain-crypto-js-c2.invalid:443"
      ],
      "proc_exec": [
        "node postinstall.js"
      ],
      "install_hooks": [
        "postinstall"
      ],
      "oauth_scopes": [],
      "obfuscation": [
        "xor_hex_payload"
      ],
      "provenance": "attacker_staged_package"
    },
    "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
    "record_digest": "sha256:eff1edf6597fd26ab411173e1d0e7f4ab77b0dff3b6c689082d64b84a6fc1865",
    "release_signature_url": "https://threat.cafe/feed.json.sig"
  }
}

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