MAL-2026-17234

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/hardhat-zet/MAL-2026-17234.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-17234
Aliases
  • GHSA-mw8r-6m3f-qmg8
Published
2026-09-28T22:07:01Z
Modified
2026-10-02T22:30:05Z
Summary
Malicious code in hardhat-zet (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (37cd33c0908189c0085fba153be1c42776411968aa5ad652dd7ffdef88b318bc)

hardhat-zet@2.0.1 is published under a name that impersonates the Hardhat Ethereum tooling ecosystem, but its README, type definitions and docs/ tree are copied verbatim from the unrelated pino logger project (badges and links point at npmjs.com/package/pino and github.com/pinojs/pino). The exported middleware in index.js is a no-op Express middleware and matches neither the hardhat-zet name nor the pino README. The package's declared main (index.js) top-level-requires./lib/config, which is not a configuration file but a 4,498,609-byte obfuscator.io-style bundle: a 26,113-entry rotated string array behind two runtime decoders (functions v and F), hex-encoded identifiers, and control-flow flattening. All strings and destination URLs are hidden behind the decoders, so this code runs automatically on any require('hardhat-zet') and its behavior is not observable without deobfuscation. Publisher metadata (author 'Robert King hello@jsonspack.com', bugs URL https://jsonspack.com/issues) ties to neither the Hardhat nor the pino identity. The combination — ecosystem-typosquat name targeting crypto/Hardhat developers, cover-story README lifted from an unrelated popular package, no-op public API, and a multi-megabyte obfuscated payload auto-executed on import — is the shape of a supply-chain stealer aimed at Ethereum developers.

Source: ghsa-malware (781273d2c802d3781fecccd4434ba418c93ce88edf920b2a1163dbacf7576254)

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-2026-020621",
            "import_time":  "2026-09-28T22:18:23.581496614Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-09-28T22:07:01Z",
            "sha256":  "37cd33c0908189c0085fba153be1c42776411968aa5ad652dd7ffdef88b318bc",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "2.0.1"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "GHSA-mw8r-6m3f-qmg8",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-02T22:25:24.583275364Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-02T21:48:55Z",
            "ranges":  [
                {
                    "events":  [
                        {
                            "introduced":  "0"
                        }
                    ],
                    "type":  "SEMVER"
                }
            ],
            "sha256":  "781273d2c802d3781fecccd4434ba418c93ce88edf920b2a1163dbacf7576254",
            "source":  "ghsa-malware"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / hardhat-zet

Package

Name
hardhat-zet
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/hardhat-zet

Affected ranges

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

Affected versions

2.*
2.0.1

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"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "evidence_files":  [
        {
            "path":  "lib/config.js",
            "sha256":  "6d06757f9ab4a23c5f09b416308cff0322ada95f0484ec4c76386cfb6898a17d",
            "tlsh":  "b32670ca1681f36397dd2713bf19a9e8e02e9ce19888f247d15e7d4d69ec11bc1a0de0"
        },
        {
            "path":  "README.md",
            "sha256":  "c06dbdc49dd2b00aa4a2e42b8096e2b00ade911b28e5f9c2ddc108fe64bd0cb8",
            "tlsh":  "0a41a56787e47fbe5b6301b2d1c275a9ff1fd31c3f6a60b9d99c812d13185a2813220a"
        },
        {
            "path":  "package.json",
            "sha256":  "1ce0376fd8b945eda3c1fb466d3acc39347cb6506f825365f8d3b7262bb923d5",
            "tlsh":  "ca017620deb88e2301ed29424c2a0643baa58c175528fc2933dba12c0f9d5fb41bf22d"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity":  [
        {
            "filename":  "hardhat-zet-2.0.1.tgz",
            "hashes":  {
                "sha1":  "6742e955c2505a00854a0e3a2e5d1ed507b0bbb5",
                "sha512_sri":  "sha512-lSUUCgdQXRx28zGPhrJNpZ/N8vuLFdaIGTWaBcpBnaQeMM86BScDFJD3zdSqexHxkXsu+HIvloKWsMMIbPkIKA=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/hardhat-zet/MAL-2026-17234.json"