MAL-2026-5521

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@helpcentre/tesco-help/MAL-2026-5521.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-5521
Aliases
  • GHSA-5cff-qhhv-cxxw
Published
2026-06-10T18:23:43Z
Modified
2026-06-25T03:31:24Z
Summary
Malicious code in @helpcentre/tesco-help (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (eb75510e87a08a5152331461c2b2b955ad21d418c8d2055f5f66ec15e22cf042)

On npm install, the postinstall hook runs node index.js, which performs an HTTPS POST to https://f1ackavab3.execute-api.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/ carrying the installer's hostname (os.hostname()) and current working directory (process.cwd()) as JSON. The package has no other functionality. The scoped name @helpcentre/tesco-help targets a Tesco-branded internal namespace, and the inflated 999.0.0 version is the canonical dependency-confusion technique used to override a private package of the same name when an installer's registry config falls back to public npm. Installers who resolve this package leak host-identifying reconnaissance data to an attacker-controlled API Gateway endpoint, enabling targeted follow-on attacks against the affected build environment.

Source: ghsa-malware (fe1c5453171d5de5ea2a770adc6dcfff3f7ffa3f2fe9f5615ef3024bed8f0cbb)

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-2026-005281",
            "import_time": "2026-06-10T19:23:47.748055636Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-06-10T18:23:43Z",
            "sha256": "eb75510e87a08a5152331461c2b2b955ad21d418c8d2055f5f66ec15e22cf042",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "999.0.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-005282",
            "import_time": "2026-06-10T19:23:47.833291748Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-06-10T18:23:43Z",
            "sha256": "f12f0ae044f23cb43cc95601156cd73349e8d8ee81c1d8a105b413416540f4d4",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "999.0.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "GHSA-5cff-qhhv-cxxw",
            "import_time": "2026-06-25T03:23:52.145086919Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-06-25T02:12:33Z",
            "ranges": [
                {
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "introduced": "0"
                        }
                    ],
                    "type": "SEMVER"
                }
            ],
            "sha256": "fe1c5453171d5de5ea2a770adc6dcfff3f7ffa3f2fe9f5615ef3024bed8f0cbb",
            "source": "ghsa-malware"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / @helpcentre/tesco-help

Package

Name
@helpcentre/tesco-help
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/%40helpcentre%2Ftesco-help

Affected ranges

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

Affected versions

999.*
999.0.0

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 
{
    "domains": [
        "f1ackavab3.execute-api.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com"
    ],
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "path": "index.js",
            "sha256": "9de09d66735ef7b0e390f9e2511369d7070b2f26c55b6a56b08d5d77a741382a",
            "tlsh": "71d095f745b4c246a76c02c4d071134af167d224e45c4470dc3244dd0f008903150c71"
        },
        {
            "path": "package.json",
            "sha256": "a767c6e19465bc4a39b8e0a9d9975fcfcb912c6de678758fdfa1e1f12db6886d",
            "tlsh": "30c02b744c028b3338cc13c50c34900d6332ce3f0144541c0ac3004542caab698efb0c"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "tesco-help-999.0.0.tgz",
            "hashes": {
                "sha1": "cc77dbcf3ec8043d992d7034d04ec06532ecc172",
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-rnXKswH1o7oRwy+6VmrRI0E5PO9CI4hy1QxxygGF7GKXNoKBWDBIHV3KAs0LnFtm33dHp4/R32zt/NqhpZJmVg=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@helpcentre/tesco-help/MAL-2026-5521.json"