MAL-2026-6325

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/web3-eth-util/MAL-2026-6325.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-6325
Published
2026-06-23T15:55:58Z
Modified
2026-06-23T17:01:26.748649753Z
Summary
Malicious code in web3-eth-util (npm)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (f2e70ad91037bdc97e6b1ab8c95f5f2b5eecdb4524582d79dae5f240cbdbfc29)

Package name and metadata impersonate the legitimate @ethereumjs/util / ethereumjs-util packages: README is copied verbatim from the upstream ethereumjs project (and even instructs users to npm install eth-util), the contributor list and repository URL point at ethereumjs/ethereumjs-monorepo, but the package is published under a different name and ownership. The published dist/index.js (line ~57) contains require("assertcore") and package.json declares "assertcore": "^3.1.7" as a runtime dependency. The human-authored src/index.ts has no such import, and the browser build at dist.browser/index.js also omits it — the extra require is injected only into the Node-targeted build that ships in the npm tarball, so reviewers reading the GitHub source see clean code while npm install + require('web3-eth-util') silently loads the third-party 'assertcore' package in the consumer's Node process with full privileges. 'assertcore' is not part of the legitimate @ethereumjs/util sources and resembles a typosquat of the standard 'assert' module. The combination — brand impersonation of a widely used Ethereum utility package, source/dist divergence hiding the injection from GitHub readers, and a require-time pull of an unrelated third-party package — is a dependency-chain dropper pattern that delivers attacker-controlled code to anyone who installs and imports this package.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "sha256": "f2e70ad91037bdc97e6b1ab8c95f5f2b5eecdb4524582d79dae5f240cbdbfc29",
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-007254",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "modified_time": "2026-06-23T15:55:58Z",
            "versions": [
                "6.2.8"
            ],
            "import_time": "2026-06-23T16:54:11.947277221Z"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / web3-eth-util

Package

Name
web3-eth-util
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/web3-eth-util

Affected ranges

Affected versions

6.*
6.2.8

Database specific

source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/web3-eth-util/MAL-2026-6325.json"
cwes 
[
    {
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
        "description": "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "cweId": "CWE-506"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "sha256": "b58ae60ae0836b1569599e7f53790f6a70bb1ecd60e5b1232b5c76361c0afa22",
            "tlsh": "8a51cc1b3658b8f583f860f81b2bd1c3f931593301b29a24866cd7f0dda698a85f4e1d",
            "path": "dist/index.js"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "web3-eth-util-6.2.8.tgz",
            "hashes": {
                "sha1": "e279959e4dd88d28e1ed1054565971ef83faef12",
                "sha512_sri": "sha512-bk1Kn2+1lGeQkU/XKwnb3mixK6yzYz7leYHvjLsnuwQonW19Z15TjEpoH4RvzJPDjEZbWkK5WBXkppxGRhwqtQ=="
            }
        }
    ]
}