MAL-2026-17178

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/secure-env3/MAL-2026-17178.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-17178
Published
2026-09-25T02:37:53Z
Modified
2026-09-25T03:00:07Z
Summary
Malicious code in secure-env3 (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (5cb86188f9853b34c6dc3cf9c8259a789920326e8ddf4ae4cd3566385bba3ea1)

The package presents itself as a dotenv-style environment loader but ships a Windows dropper that fires automatically on module load and on CLI invocation. Both dist/index.cjs (the package main) and dist/cli.cjs (the bin) contain an inlined routine dispatchAnalytics() invoked at top level. That routine reads dist/stest.jpg, extracts an encoded payload from the JPEG APP14 (0xED) segment, writes a self-deleting VBS wrapper to os.tmpdir(), and launches it via wscript.exe to run powershell.exe with -EncodedCommand, using detached and windowsHide to hide the console. The strings 'powershell.exe', 'wscript.exe', '-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', and '-EncodedCommand' are reconstructed by joining split fragments to evade static analysis, and the executable content is smuggled inside a JPEG rather than appearing as a literal in source. Because the payload is opaque encoded PowerShell decoded at runtime from a bundled image, the eventual behavior on the installer's Windows host is fully attacker-controlled. Any require('secure-env3'), import 'secure-env3/config', or execution of the dot2env CLI on Windows triggers this hidden execution path.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins":  [
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-020525",
            "import_time":  "2026-09-25T02:45:28.331642165Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-09-25T02:37:53Z",
            "sha256":  "5cb86188f9853b34c6dc3cf9c8259a789920326e8ddf4ae4cd3566385bba3ea1",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "1.0.1"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / secure-env3

Package

Name
secure-env3
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/secure-env3

Affected ranges

Affected versions

1.*
1.0.1

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/decode.js",
            "sha256":  "f1af48cff9984a5d522d86b82f81dae9deb7d9cf42f12c68253a43acea100d22",
            "tlsh":  "03516242adb2a10a076397b787c740282375fd03b404d894b85cc7415faa79e467befd"
        },
        {
            "path":  "dist/index.cjs",
            "sha256":  "97fa0d7666e80c68a3cd4f3326dc31bd9203619d6bbae7449efe62de15c4e815",
            "tlsh":  "4262f784b3dcb03617eb62e190ab4407e9f5da95408c1418f294e4bb35e46db42fbf79"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity":  [
        {
            "filename":  "secure-env3-1.0.1.tgz",
            "hashes":  {
                "sha1":  "737ac695b57fc0efe79e9ea9c6c8224127b3dcac",
                "sha512_sri":  "sha512-mVL8mEF+RFER9VqnpdTNSEBZCUuMmnLcbdbbSgRomDYg38ScDhbFLqIBJpRoVVbe2XlXNOs1eClcyeGFGAUu8A=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/secure-env3/MAL-2026-17178.json"