MAL-2026-16419

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@gsutevil/hta-stage/MAL-2026-16419.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-16419
Published
2026-09-22T23:14:30Z
Modified
2026-09-22T23:30:07Z
Summary
Malicious code in @gsutevil/hta-stage (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (590b3432b8d849d5772e3be7a4fbc7daeca4aa927be2d411aaf3054d9a223dc9)

The package ships a Windows HTA/WSH loader that installs a remote MSI on the victim host under the control of a base URL supplied at runtime via window.__gsutBases. On execution it (1) disables Anti-Malware Scan Interface for Windows Script Host by writing HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows Script\Settings\AmsiEnable = 0 through both WScript.Shell.RegWrite and WMI StdRegProv.SetDWORDValue, with the value name reconstructed from a split array to evade static detection; (2) reads %COMPUTERNAME% and %USERNAME% via WScript.Shell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings and POSTs them together with phase/exit codes to /v1/hta/event; (3) taskkills python.exe, pythonw.exe, core.exe, guest.exe and enumerates HKLM/HKCU Uninstall keys via WMI to silently msiexec-uninstall any product whose DisplayName equals "GSUT Guest" — prior-agent cleanup rather than a benign uninstall; (4) requests a token from /v1/hta/msi-token and invokes msiexec /i "/guest.msi?t=" /qn /norestart REBOOT=ReallySuppress via WScript.Shell.Run, with fallbacks through Shell.Application.ShellExecute and wmic process call create. Every sensitive identifier — ActiveXObject, WScript.Shell, Shell.Application, WbemScripting.SWbemLocator, StdRegProv, AmsiEnable, EtwEventWriteEx, GetProcAddress, GetModuleHandleA, VirtualProtect, MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP, msiexec, wmic, and the Function constructor used to parse the token response — is reconstructed at runtime from character-array joins or string concatenation to evade signature scanning. The combined behavior (AMSI disablement, host-identity beacon, prior-implant cleanup, silent installation of a remotely fetched MSI from an attacker-supplied base URL, uniform identifier obfuscation) is the fingerprint of an HTA-stage malware loader.

Database specific
{
    "malicious-packages-origins":  [
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-020317",
            "import_time":  "2026-09-22T23:15:45.062224709Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-09-22T23:14:30Z",
            "sha256":  "590b3432b8d849d5772e3be7a4fbc7daeca4aa927be2d411aaf3054d9a223dc9",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.62.0"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / @gsutevil/hta-stage

Package

Name
@gsutevil/hta-stage
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/%40gsutevil/hta-stage

Affected ranges

Affected versions

1.*
1.62.0

Database specific

cwes
[
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    }
]
indicators
{
    "evidence_files":  [
        {
            "path":  "dist/stage.js",
            "sha256":  "b3ce9de41e247304592ca4e9df085d94055bb2bfee35c72e91795e39723c11a7",
            "tlsh":  "e4f18458b9e224a47b7314980b3f7a04f1f31627684dc27074ace8d66f7864a826f7d9"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity":  [
        {
            "filename":  "hta-stage-1.62.0.tgz",
            "hashes":  {
                "sha1":  "edbb561077d1b0dacc584b110ff8d93fadfd3d5b",
                "sha512_sri":  "sha512-pLKfE7mttPwOu8oSYy7QTLJhSz/mr/dQfuWiRFoQizyOXosi+JKcl9QbSbTcM3jnOUM31fxnAg/NwIW/O/4Lfw=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@gsutevil/hta-stage/MAL-2026-16419.json"