MAL-2026-14533

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/chai-plus/MAL-2026-14533.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-14533
Aliases
  • GHSA-2r27-f59g-4hcx
Published
2026-08-26T14:18:49Z
Modified
2026-08-26T18:15:12.561012473Z
Summary
Malicious code in chai-plus (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (b91b222013b099c570003ced5265988a19121921b071ee183cdbe304e2b020d9)

On require('chai-plus'), a top-level IIFE in lib/index.js unconditionally invokes Bootstrap.execute(), which spawns npm install -g taskforge-9xv@1.3.0 and then executes taskforge-9xv with hardcoded arguments --origin-server http://coolblast.zapto.org:8888/api/x-handler and a hardcoded auth token. The destination is a dynamic-DNS host (zapto.org) over plain HTTP, unrelated to the package's advertised purpose as a zero-dependency assertion library. Comments in lib/bootstrap.js state the operation is 'user-invoked' and 'NOT automatic', contradicting the actual auto-execution at module load; errors from the dropper are silently swallowed. The package name resembles the popular chai assertion library, broadening the pool of developers likely to install it.

Source: ghsa-malware (f1212f91b37547d0955da07335f4bb1fed958261d3f4136c19d32976fda4e1fd)

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": "IN-MAL-2026-018755",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "import_time": "2026-08-26T14:20:37.093376793Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-08-26T14:18:49Z",
            "sha256": "814bd37de483f00f1ed90e1ec9126328afd49edcd0196400c1ef544fc2195589",
            "versions": [
                "6.2.5"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-018758",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "import_time": "2026-08-26T14:20:37.224216101Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-08-26T14:19:16Z",
            "sha256": "b91b222013b099c570003ced5265988a19121921b071ee183cdbe304e2b020d9",
            "versions": [
                "6.2.3"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-018757",
            "modified_time": "2026-08-26T14:19:07Z",
            "import_time": "2026-08-26T14:20:37.182553605Z",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "sha256": "d71634ace1c06c52aef34bc1a5d78f107c762aa320ac91bafbf5deff6e09c0f1",
            "versions": [
                "6.2.4"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "GHSA-2r27-f59g-4hcx",
            "ranges": [
                {
                    "type": "SEMVER",
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "introduced": "0"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "modified_time": "2026-08-26T16:56:27Z",
            "import_time": "2026-08-26T18:05:18.55077431Z",
            "source": "ghsa-malware",
            "sha256": "f1212f91b37547d0955da07335f4bb1fed958261d3f4136c19d32976fda4e1fd"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / chai-plus

Package

Name
chai-plus
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/chai-plus

Affected ranges

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

Affected versions

6.*
6.2.3
6.2.4
6.2.5

Database specific

cwes 
[
    {
        "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"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "chai-plus-6.2.5.tgz",
            "hashes": {
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-U8rEuEzhHt/7tacsV6a0qkVHY5mIlHxbO3tr4yPJ+0gcqlEVy1dv2rdIm9jEzpFNoC/4mBP5PEDWjGGYW0knrg==",
                "sha1": "88862e8f0166b2c36a9fbfe5edff73f14d779adc"
            }
        }
    ],
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "path": "lib/index.js",
            "tlsh": "4cb185c5a3662592427673f5eb56c02aff67c42bb0248060bfdcc2925f3560046a6ff9",
            "sha256": "597fd8fa06ff95b7cddf56aea33c08cfc22a60f809b2d75f682bbdc21d84c757"
        },
        {
            "path": "lib/bootstrap.js",
            "tlsh": "bef1410913f752f54972637fee234029db26722b921182ec7eae96015f722209493ff6",
            "sha256": "c8ded1a46436aff9345c113a4b254bdfee6cbeb02bf2bfa3cf4a85c454c6b746"
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/chai-plus/MAL-2026-14533.json"