Malicious code in @ppa-web-components/ppa-headerfooter (npm)

@ppa-web-components/ppa-headerfooter is a dependency-confusion package: it is described as a "Compatibility shim", uses inflated version numbers, and its README calls it an "authorized dependency-confusion test". Each listed version (1.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.0, 1.0.1, 99.0.1, 3.0.0) has a postinstall script that runs node beacon.cjs on npm install, and index.js calls the same code when the package is imported; it POSTs the hostname, install path and current working directory over plain HTTP to http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc, and index.js exports a Proxy that returns no-op functions so builds importing the real package keep running. The npm account wiseke published 14 such packages under the @greenlake, @sxm-web, @drone-js-ext and @ppa-web-components scopes between 2026-10-23 21:23 and 2026-10-25 14:28 UTC; index.js is byte-identical to that of ph-common (MAL-2026-1809), which sends to the same endpoint.

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Source: amazon-inspector (32234bc8ba0c918d154d680b15a1bcb7ae6f6b7d20365c02095842b84e245dce)

The package ships a beacon.cjs script wired as both the postinstall lifecycle hook (node beacon.cjs) and a require-time side effect from index.js. On install and on require(), the beacon POSTs installer identifiers — os.hostname(), the install path (__dirname), process.cwd(), process.version, and the package name — to the hardcoded bare-IP plaintext HTTP endpoint http://185.158.107.175:8787/_ah/dc. The package otherwise provides no functionality: index.js exports a Proxy that returns a no-op function for every property access, so the beacon is the sole purpose of the package. The combination of a scoped name resembling a web-components namespace, a 'Compatibility shim' description, a functionless Proxy stub, and a bare-IP recon beacon is the shape of a dependency-confusion / typosquat probe measuring where the package resolves inside private build environments, typically preceding a targeted follow-up payload.

Source: ghsa-malware (2d6203081a7ca70c676e9bd017a2350965128b04bb4abed55ac7f82d6d95915c)

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.