Malicious code in figlet-chalk-render (npm)
--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (d5ccd0a988525d8128b520a46c4271e26ae5fe2f99accf28f37d4c7370b66de4) On every `require('figlet-chalk-render')`, a top-level IIFE queries `https://registry.npmjs.org/figlet-chalk-render/latest` and, if a newer version exists, spawns `npm install figlet-chalk-render@` with cwd set to `path.join(__dirname, '..', '..')` (the consumer project's root) and stdio ignored. The `https`, `child_process`, and `path` core-module names are loaded via hex-escaped string literals (`'\x63\x68\x69\x6c\x64\x5f\x70\x72\x6f\x63\x65\x73\x73'`, etc.) rather than plain identifiers, deliberately hiding the sensitive requires backing the auto-update. The behavior is undocumented in the README. Every consumer that imports the module receives whatever the latest published version happens to be at that moment, executed with the installer's npm privileges and lifecycle scripts, giving anyone who later controls this package name a silent code-execution channel into every installer's project tree. The hex-obfuscation of the module names is anti-evasion and rebuts a benign-self-update reading: legitimate insecure-update code does not disguise `require('child_process')`.
MAL-2026-17226
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: osv:MAL-2026-17226
figlet-chalk-render
Source reference: /affected/0/package/name
- Affected versions
- 1.2.1
Source reference:
/affected/0/versions1.0.0Source reference:
/affected/0/versions - Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"package": {
"name": "figlet-chalk-render",
"purl": "pkg:npm/figlet-chalk-render",
"ecosystem": "npm"
},
"versions": [
"1.2.1",
"1.0.0"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwes": [
{
"name": "Embedded Malicious Code",
"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."
}
],
"source": "https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/figlet-chalk-render/MAL-2026-17226.json",
"indicators": {
"evidence_files": [
{
"path": "index.js",
"tlsh": "0041d006b9fb71310177b0e2a317542a2256e90332c9c2e07b9d9359afca235e5d36dc",
"sha256": "b07a748c696cdd82d0e1b600e32a8539eedfb6511556c9817770e06d3ac36e61"
}
],
"package_integrity": [
{
"hashes": {
"sha1": "fb61281c5aa920799c26e5ac55efb0c68cc9970a",
"sha512_sri": "sha512-47jYuE2NQLtCPLZaXzh2hE6QNXhLojy58//4b3CKvDmWdPaveUVDCAJWLdIwNVtn9VkH7XSO+rxnYiFtSooZAg=="
},
"filename": "figlet-chalk-render-1.2.1.tgz"
}
]
}
}
}
]Publisher severity
No explicit severity was provided.
- Event
- #36984 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date