MAL-2026-18059

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/claude-desktop-setup/MAL-2026-18059.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-18059
Aliases
  • GHSA-f4mf-vhm8-xxqc
Published
2026-10-19T21:47:42Z
Modified
2026-10-29T13:48:10Z
Summary
Malicious code in claude-desktop-setup (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (c8bd0d707f60a5a079753e03a84ec1e658191bfe0e4724cb527088b980f5d3e5)

On run, the CLI collects an Anthropic-style API key (sk-ant-api03-...) and user email and writes a hardcoded gateway URL https://api-anthropic.help (a lookalike of api.anthropic.com) together with the key and an X-User-Email header into Claude Desktop's configuration across all platforms: claude_desktop_config.json (inferenceGatewayBaseUrl / inferenceGatewayApiKey), the Windows HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Claude policy hive via reg.exe, and macOS managed preferences for com.anthropic.claudefordesktop via defaults write. A clearCachedSession routine then deletes Session Storage, Local Storage, IndexedDB, Network, Partitions, GPUCache, and Code Cache from the Claude Desktop app directory, purging the user's existing Anthropic session so the next launch re-authenticates against the lookalike host. After setup, Claude Desktop prompts, file content, and the user's Anthropic API key are sent to the author-controlled gateway at api-anthropic.help instead of api.anthropic.com, authorizing the operator of that host to read all prompt/response traffic and to use/charge the user's Anthropic key. The destination is a typosquat of Anthropic's real API domain, is the default (used unless -u is supplied), and is persisted in locations (Windows policy hive, macOS managed preferences) intended to survive application reconfiguration.

Source: ghsa-malware (0a630106ca43afedf49fdba82514ad1acbbf35a504b68e9d14d297006b82d6ef)

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.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins":  [
        {
            "id":  "GHSA-f4mf-vhm8-xxqc",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-19T22:24:25.307911393Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-19T21:47:43Z",
            "ranges":  [
                {
                    "events":  [
                        {
                            "introduced":  "0"
                        }
                    ],
                    "type":  "SEMVER"
                }
            ],
            "sha256":  "0a630106ca43afedf49fdba82514ad1acbbf35a504b68e9d14d297006b82d6ef",
            "source":  "ghsa-malware"
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021844",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:12.917757336Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:15:19Z",
            "sha256":  "74ee6c93cc90cc1e19cdc6496a73e9ba4319b7cd8c4127683fc127c7026a7f3f",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.8"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021944",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:17.503842794Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:28:22Z",
            "sha256":  "988fd06bf995b07762a5cf6002e10d84741213dfe277042bb86ba9b4982777f8",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.12"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021852",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.317834402Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:16:25Z",
            "sha256":  "a3cbc81e32e7ef2e7bd6edeb61c6f633c98d55ff0411e0c86898880de5276301",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021838",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:12.528221905Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:14:27Z",
            "sha256":  "bb4ecc175ca6f12449c02cafe29aede2b00dca3fcbf49bdea4cfdeb01319cc6a",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.13"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021849",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.159641436Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:15:59Z",
            "sha256":  "1b8163e760d1467e60eda184b58a39242870b3a2378aa7cbd88fce427aa42f4c",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.3"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021851",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.254935626Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:16:18Z",
            "sha256":  "b2f20ed6e8bf3d1535e47d6a3183d348311427c464b85c5943981177168137f2",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.2"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021847",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.039173076Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:15:44Z",
            "sha256":  "c8bd0d707f60a5a079753e03a84ec1e658191bfe0e4724cb527088b980f5d3e5",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.5"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021840",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:12.620901041Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:14:48Z",
            "sha256":  "cd16300d464a4ef2fb05761327893260f449d5e533a565d0bca8be3e6a7bb5f3",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.10"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021853",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.353938324Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:16:32Z",
            "sha256":  "df2e62a3f7124a4e546e8083a552c53628a46a868e2bfa0e799d95b39172c5d9",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.1"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021866",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.944220313Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:18:19Z",
            "sha256":  "ea01d3c239acb6ec1efd4bf581c5a05ae5c669c8ebbe17621b57da1af54bcf2b",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.6"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021864",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.852455027Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:18:04Z",
            "sha256":  "087b9fd6203d2981a5167fd2b213e8fbdaf80c97dfa7e63b94cb807bbc2a0f56",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.11"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021843",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:12.86953036Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:15:12Z",
            "sha256":  "2926a67217e5731fb01ac4a61a0f6e92f5970544d21e3115a3c839792b0dee4b",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.9"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021839",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:12.591278183Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:14:40Z",
            "sha256":  "2a4c78f62f2dc1d97213640b5d391859a6d3ce7f0759e51c728b22cbc440a735",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.7"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021848",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-29T13:37:13.112044029Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-29T13:15:52Z",
            "sha256":  "39f6903d77c98a8eb2c8d6b543dfd0db72a9e5591dd4710ceb2c28f1d8cbce2e",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.4"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / claude-desktop-setup

Package

Name
claude-desktop-setup
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/claude-desktop-setup

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

1.*
1.0.0
1.0.1
1.0.2
1.0.3
1.0.4
1.0.5
1.0.6
1.0.7
1.0.8
1.0.9
1.0.10
1.0.11
1.0.12
1.0.13

Database specific

cwes 
[
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "evidence_files":  [
        {
            "path":  "bin/cli.js",
            "sha256":  "2e9cd4a475c8ff296e959d37fcb7b3977de3c11ef6535d197164549284b2eb66",
            "tlsh":  "2bb2b54f1efb10211ab6f478ea8f4407e61b8563230ce918beec52585f46621987f7bc"
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/claude-desktop-setup/MAL-2026-18059.json"