MAL-2026-4510

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/cerebrum-core/MAL-2026-4510.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-4510
Aliases
  • GHSA-7886-2x59-rg2h
Published
2026-05-21T01:06:31Z
Modified
2026-08-18T12:45:11.973831722Z
Summary
Malicious code in cerebrum-core (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (e0ac38481a69f23f9170b098fcd48cd72b82edb969bdd44eb3aa5cc377a13a0d)

On npm install, the package's postinstall hook runs setup.js, which decodes an embedded base64 string into a tar.gz file at ../../../temp_bundle.tar.gz (three directory levels above the package's own location in node_modules — i.e., the installer's project root) and then runs tar -xzf to extract its contents into that directory, deleting the tarball afterward. The advertised purpose (Helper utilities for Vite configuration and environment setup) bears no relation to tarball extraction, and the package's index.js is a stub that only emits two console.log calls. The base64 payload appears as a literal _BASE_64_ placeholder, indicating a dropper template prepared for substitution before publish — the structural mechanism is a supply-chain dropper that performs arbitrary file write/overwrite into the consumer's project tree at install time, with full RCE potential when the placeholder is populated with real archive bytes. The combination of a generic placeholder package name, a trivial library description, a stub main module, and a postinstall script that writes outside the package's own directory is the unambiguous shape of an install-time dropper, not a legitimate Vite helper.

Source: ghsa-malware (0db6e2c3ae41638c616e873b0d8b113ba37610febfb1b9c35dc44db939daa08b)

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": [
        {
            "sha256": "e0ac38481a69f23f9170b098fcd48cd72b82edb969bdd44eb3aa5cc377a13a0d",
            "versions": [
                "1.1.0"
            ],
            "import_time": "2026-05-26T05:51:04.872028857Z",
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-003671",
            "modified_time": "2026-05-21T01:06:31Z",
            "source": "amazon-inspector"
        },
        {
            "import_time": "2026-08-18T12:29:51.347310321Z",
            "sha256": "0db6e2c3ae41638c616e873b0d8b113ba37610febfb1b9c35dc44db939daa08b",
            "id": "GHSA-7886-2x59-rg2h",
            "ranges": [
                {
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "introduced": "0"
                        }
                    ],
                    "type": "SEMVER"
                }
            ],
            "modified_time": "2026-08-18T11:28:30Z",
            "source": "ghsa-malware"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / cerebrum-core

Package

Affected ranges

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

Affected versions

1.*
1.1.0

Database specific

cwes
[
    {
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
        "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."
    }
]
indicators
{
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "cerebrum-core-1.1.0.tgz",
            "hashes": {
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-Oxfs8tVzQgDNLcIlhv3dL9v+zDHYHHiMY1cPoVBD3bIrX9oEylvSXmURZIQGtiRplKM0LUf1HLVZbnGOe/e/ug==",
                "sha1": "a87f9adca2aad21fca36ee8a7b6603e9acb968e2"
            }
        }
    ],
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "sha256": "58f46ded66c1747db7998968203280fcf6b90febc60d8d16e5a3df2b644d3a54",
            "path": "setup.js",
            "tlsh": "88e0abe107c153f4d8a0cec3eb10ba2e5243d1937b03d6c0c16c12ca2bd369154b2cb9"
        },
        {
            "sha256": "fc00212aea1da575d6ae92d3965aeefb16ca688d5075a4da20754361f54731be",
            "path": "package.json",
            "tlsh": "09d02e204e226c3320c46fa20caf940629314f3b0200a84c2bd720288baa2726eff218"
        }
    ]
}
source
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/cerebrum-core/MAL-2026-4510.json"