MAL-2026-17780

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/rubygems/block-explorer-api/MAL-2026-17780.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-17780
Published
2026-10-11T13:46:34Z
Modified
2026-10-11T14:30:06Z
Summary
Malicious code in block-explorer-api (RubyGems)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (9cfaa3470065369addbb91e3a6c2072e8add334c4d27bff95f91315aa58ae313)

The gem's native-extension build script (extconf.rb) decodes a base64-encoded Ruby payload and passes it to eval() inside a double-forked, detached child process with stdio redirected to /dev/null. The decoded payload opens a TCP connection to the hardcoded bare-IP C2 45.138.12.177:8089 and bridges it to /bin/sh via IO.popen and IO.copy_stream in both directions, yielding a full interactive reverse shell on the installer's host under the installing user. Execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that skip CI runners, ephemeral/sandbox hostnames (uvm, firecracker, sandbox, vagrant), generated analyst usernames (uA\d+, sandbox, tester, analys, scanner), common analysis working paths (/opt/rubygems, /tmp, /var/tmp, /workspace), and hosts with uptime under 1800 seconds, firing only when developer-signal files such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.gitconfig, or ~/.npmrc are present, and after a randomized 20-40 minute delay. The shipped library at lib/block_explorer_api.rb is an inert 10-line stub (VERSION, build_id, healthy?) and the gemspec name (block-explorer-api, authored by generic 'block maintainers') does not match the README, which describes the package as 'bitcoin-rpc-lite'; the install hook contains the entire functional payload while the advertised library does nothing.

Database specific
{
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-021354",
            "import_time": "2026-10-11T14:17:58.618468155Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-11T13:46:34Z",
            "sha256": "9cfaa3470065369addbb91e3a6c2072e8add334c4d27bff95f91315aa58ae313",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "0.9.1"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

RubyGems / block-explorer-api

Package

Name
block-explorer-api
Purl
pkg:gem/block-explorer-api

Affected ranges

Affected versions

0.*
0.9.1

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": "ext/block_explorer_api/extconf.rb",
            "sha256": "10218e975f54a4f11fe3954e1b584a5f05054003bf5773c3c2b8cceaa74ba763",
            "tlsh": "9751775acf8359e55aa1c0c045798012faa3ab0a50646875f3ee0868ff59b26c0f12fe"
        },
        {
            "path": "README.md",
            "sha256": "c11ea90465c14afe868c0d0028b54d69fbad390a73ddb7779e88becd2957d8f3",
            "tlsh": "b2c02b409c10f00783b09561bbc0019ba800c0cc9000c30b4874063cc0988518e65419"
        }
    ]
}
source
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/rubygems/block-explorer-api/MAL-2026-17780.json"