MAL-2026-4569

See a problem?
Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/gator-client/MAL-2026-4569.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-4569
Published
2026-05-20T13:17:53Z
Modified
2026-05-26T06:02:21.385692769Z
Summary
Malicious code in gator-client (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (1925735d02fb91f74a11718c3402ad0b10f551eecb8c6d88f02d475b3e0a799f)

On npm install (via scripts.install: node index.js) and on every require('gator-client'), lib/core.js collects os.userInfo().username, os.hostname(), and the basename of process.cwd(), then issues a dns.resolve4() query for lwgator.<user>.<host>.<cwd>.<ts>.oob.sl4x0.xyz, leaking installer host identifiers over DNS to an attacker-controlled out-of-band domain. The function name resolve4, the module names os/dns/process, and the C2 domain oob.sl4x0.xyz are stored as decimal byte arrays in lib/b02e30.js and lib/6ad264.js and decoded via String.fromCharCode at runtime (paired with hex-style identifiers like _0x5b3d) to evade naive string scanners. The package's advertised purpose ("Enterprise-grade utilities with enhanced validation and compatibility layer") is a cover story: src/ ships plausible-looking benign modules, but the only code reached from the install hook and main entry is the beacon. The author email research@sl4x0.xyz matches the exfil domain sl4x0.xyz, confirming attacker ownership of the receiving infrastructure. DNS-based exfiltration is specifically chosen to bypass HTTP egress filters that would otherwise block outbound POSTs.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "modified_time": "2026-05-20T13:17:53Z",
            "versions": [
                "9.9.11"
            ],
            "sha256": "1925735d02fb91f74a11718c3402ad0b10f551eecb8c6d88f02d475b3e0a799f",
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-003544",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "import_time": "2026-05-26T05:50:49.719884767Z"
        },
        {
            "modified_time": "2026-05-20T13:17:53Z",
            "versions": [
                "9.9.11"
            ],
            "sha256": "82a9b9bbbc91bb4f55b84e72bc8735b30d4090baf79501f92acb96a5ec54348e",
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-003545",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "import_time": "2026-05-26T05:50:49.889537832Z"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / gator-client

Package

Name
gator-client
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/gator-client

Affected ranges

Affected versions

9.*
9.9.11

Database specific

indicators 
{
    "domains": [
        "lwgator.scan.scanae7ef43eac8.gatorclient.1779283023.oob.sl4x0.xyz"
    ],
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "sha256": "397d1435e7291ed6b02b8627033a110124d250a54290b3a8f9f248573fd6a2d4",
            "tlsh": "38014929a393c08f97e096d0361a03d18499c380e7ce80a5fa7c4a87904e7d1cac5a96",
            "path": "lib/core.js"
        },
        {
            "sha256": "8c5723763a4041fdd9b114b9754ad5d941532906ce6eac1d70efbd3fae6555f6",
            "tlsh": "bee068173303c94fa1d80bf7790050a0aa1d8f58a11dc0d6b618678500af443c1c0632",
            "path": "lib/b02e30.js"
        },
        {
            "sha256": "10f39cfd7ea2e41e2f7a771eae27f314c79f56c005cd26a59c476fead570dc74",
            "tlsh": "65216622de254c333ed82a91ec696942f46208174d457c0a77c2913c8faf2af12ff61d",
            "path": "package.json"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "hashes": {
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-6MAxzjfOv6V72a+I44oVXtEmvchp813QmnvjIHztRrt/73T6YF0GbG1FjG/iKR6S9P8fwqCLhJ2K2u5SL5cr7A==",
                "sha1": "671d11ffa4fc8badec7d8a850e23e0b85d4e650b"
            },
            "filename": "gator-client-9.9.11.tgz"
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/gator-client/MAL-2026-4569.json"
cwes 
[
    {
        "description": "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
        "cweId": "CWE-506"
    }
]