MAL-2026-5554

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/express-self-destruct2/MAL-2026-5554.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-5554
Aliases
  • GHSA-rjp6-jx87-x8x8
Published
2026-06-11T02:50:52Z
Modified
2026-07-27T10:08:27.559257446Z
Summary
Malicious code in express-self-destruct2 (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (c21246439a04267591c998594f92ac1267c86698f5dcc3463ad2cd932abb04dc)

On install, the package's postinstall hook (scripts/inject.js) locates the installer's project root and main entry (from package.json or fallbacks app.js/server.js), detects the Express app variable, and silently appends a hidden /robots.txt route handler to the installer's own source file. When the route is hit with ?verify=destroy, the injected handler runs npx pm2 delete all, taskkill /IM node.exe /F (Windows) or pkill -f "node.*<cwd>" (Unix), and recursively fs.rms the project's src/ directory. The library's main module (index.js) additionally exports armSelfDestruct(app, options) which registers the same destructive route programmatically: on ?verify=destroy it executes pkill -f "node.*${process.cwd()}" and fs.rm(process.cwd() or process.cwd()/<deleteFolder>, { recursive: true, force: true })deleteFolder='' wipes the entire working directory. package.json also declares a dependency on the sibling package express-self-destruct1 despite the README advertising zero dependencies, pulling additional related code into the installer's tree. The combination — install-time source tampering plus a shipped, attacker-triggerable process-kill + rm-rf primitive — is destructive supply-chain malware regardless of advertised purpose.

Source: ghsa-malware (5aaefa71ba1513e6d587ba499a230a3721d03001f1ff4621b6181134ecc4a08f)

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": [
        {
            "import_time": "2026-06-11T03:48:45.159594098Z",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "modified_time": "2026-06-11T02:50:52Z",
            "sha256": "c21246439a04267591c998594f92ac1267c86698f5dcc3463ad2cd932abb04dc",
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-005389",
            "versions": [
                "1.0.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "import_time": "2026-07-27T09:43:03.84303816Z",
            "source": "ghsa-malware",
            "modified_time": "2026-07-27T00:55:56Z",
            "sha256": "5aaefa71ba1513e6d587ba499a230a3721d03001f1ff4621b6181134ecc4a08f",
            "id": "GHSA-rjp6-jx87-x8x8",
            "ranges": [
                {
                    "type": "SEMVER",
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "introduced": "0"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / express-self-destruct2

Package

Name
express-self-destruct2
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/express-self-destruct2

Affected ranges

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

Affected versions

1.*
1.0.0

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/express-self-destruct2/MAL-2026-5554.json"
indicators
{
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "sha256": "b1970350a7bc69bef9cf4061fd46571d344e2c11dde87f0e69ea28e983340eae",
            "path": "scripts/inject.js",
            "tlsh": "c7513254c67a4231eef277fd622a0416ba5bd831365151e0b2dc817d3f9247148e2efe"
        },
        {
            "sha256": "77c836910cd27290eec52b87d0f66bf034c3de6e05fdb8a67464df2ddb1b7d2d",
            "path": "package.json",
            "tlsh": "0ff0e5319910ad7711fae6e76cb54247b0610f1b11e8dd0e32fb40a8475275708aefec"
        },
        {
            "sha256": "c27277229ee1fce5cc2a578a6045062b12e2bbf672663280c9b0f3acc4fe94d3",
            "tlsh": "7c51125212fe6062a9f627a2fb172413fc6fc32723a2926479bca3501fb00649436ddd",
            "path": "index.js"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "express-self-destruct2-1.0.0.tgz",
            "hashes": {
                "sha1": "c5764891269cd0b4768e8e8680e90057db50dcc1",
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-ouCbO3WEZQPt9YCEhVPj089NmOmXzo/VT+EtK3XqRv4tLas1IUOirou8T1GmQX2F4mB/TBx7btiwRl523qkiJA=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
cwes
[
    {
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
        "cweId": "CWE-506",
        "description": "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature."
    },
    {
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
        "description": "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "cweId": "CWE-506"
    }
]