Malicious code in chromatitle (npm)
--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (793cf7eb2b4de9c41e229fc89c393e38f05141991762f69f310e1397fa464f9c) chromatitle advertises itself as an ANSI color/title formatting library but its main entry src/index.js unconditionally calls _bootstrap() at top level, transferring control to src/utils/bootstrap.js. bootstrap.js is a ~51KB javascript-obfuscator artifact (rotated string array, RC4-style decoder, self-defending IIFE, hex-mangled identifiers such as _0x59ef48/_0x4c3a73/_0xbac3ae) that imports https.get and child_process.execFile and consumes a getSystemInfo helper returning the host platform (windows/linux/macos/freebsd/sunos). The combination of import-time execution, platform-gated branching, remote HTTPS fetch, and subprocess execution inside a file whose contents are deliberately concealed matches the fetch-and-execute dropper shape. A terminal color/title formatter has no functional need for child_process or outbound HTTPS at import time, and the obfuscation hides the destination host and the command handed to execFile. Any downstream package that requires or imports chromatitle triggers this loader on load.
MAL-2026-17173
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-2026-17173
chromatitle
Source reference: /affected/0/package/name
- Affected versions
- 1.0.0
Source 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": "chromatitle",
"purl": "pkg:npm/chromatitle",
"ecosystem": "npm"
},
"versions": [
"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."
}
],
"source": "https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/chromatitle/MAL-2026-17173.json",
"indicators": {
"evidence_files": [
{
"path": "src/utils/bootstrap.js",
"tlsh": "11338d9476c1e80366ce0b63ff16b9e9e12fa8b175c8a407c264b99db4b8107c5b4df4",
"sha256": "f7d816bb261b3bf4f570d7acd4f70e7369685ff44ab0bf30b05374fd85ffde9c"
}
],
"package_integrity": [
{
"hashes": {
"sha1": "14e2f37fcc6a200a411b42a728392bb2dc37821a",
"sha512_sri": "sha512-3dl6JqZI7q6749H1II5/ffnRLhzBlB0W1B2i4HaawRmG32KTsYv5im2MHp4rBlJsVEVCqYVmRUBArOrq+OSy/w=="
},
"filename": "chromatitle-1.0.0.tgz"
}
]
}
}
}
]Publisher severity
No explicit severity was provided.
- Event
- #14781 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date