Malicious code in erc20-approve-audit (RubyGems)

{
  "id": "3db7ab43ada8985b3d1cd24b71b4d950b6a8a0df0109233a3256783752bfc8a4",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17785",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "Malicious code in erc20-approve-audit (RubyGems)",
    "summary": "--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (e43c1d294111db5834d006f064d33001b463860783ed8662a5f41a8e7354e4b8) The gem's native extension script, which runs automatically during `gem install`, base64-decodes a Ruby payload and launches it via a double-forked, detached, session-leader background process (setsid, /dev/null reopen, ~20-40 minute delay). The decoded payload opens a TCP socket to the hardcoded bare IP 45.138.12.177:8089 and pipes a local /bin/sh to the socket in an infinite reconnect loop, giving a remote operator full shell control of the installer's host. Execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that suppress the payload inside CI providers (CI, GITHUB_ACTIONS, TRAVIS, JENKINS, GITLAB_CI, CODESPACES), ephemeral/sandbox hosts (uvm, firecracker, sandbox, vagrant), analyst-shaped usernames and working directories (/tmp, /var/tmp, /opt/rubygems, /workspace), and short machine uptimes (<1800s), firing only when developer-signal files are present (~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.bundle, ~/.npmrc). The gem's advertised identity does not match its shipped contents: the name is `erc20-approve-audit` but the README and the native makefile target are `bitcoin-rpc-lite` / `bitcoin_rpc_lite_native`, and the Ruby library surface is a two-method stub (`build_id='ok'`, `healthy?=true`) with no functional code. ## Source: ossf-package-analysis (72bf8663ed3f4b92a50b3f9988ce63092fe827b55a65c726eee1f8f61163d890) The OpenSSF",
    "evidence": "osv:MAL-2026-17785",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "erc20-approve-audit",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [],
        "affected_versions": [
          {
            "value": "0.9.1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "severity": "unknown",
    "structured": {
      "id": "MAL-2026-17785",
      "aliases": [
        "MAL-2026-17785"
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "package": {
            "name": "erc20-approve-audit",
            "purl": "pkg:gem/erc20-approve-audit",
            "ecosystem": "RubyGems"
          },
          "versions": [
            "0.9.1"
          ],
          "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/rubygems/erc20-approve-audit/MAL-2026-17785.json",
            "indicators": {
              "evidence_files": [
                {
                  "path": "ext/erc20_approve_audit/extconf.rb",
                  "tlsh": "9751775acf8359e55aa1c0c045798012faa3ab0a50646875f3ee0868ff59b26c0f12fe",
                  "sha256": "10218e975f54a4f11fe3954e1b584a5f05054003bf5773c3c2b8cceaa74ba763"
                },
                {
                  "path": "README.md",
                  "tlsh": "b2c02b409c10f00783b09561bbc0019ba800c0cc9000c30b4874063cc0988518e65419",
                  "sha256": "c11ea90465c14afe868c0d0028b54d69fbad390a73ddb7779e88becd2957d8f3"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-13T23:30:05.015316876Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://rubygems.org/gems/erc20-approve-audit/versions/0.9.1"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "malicious-packages-origins": [
          {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-021355",
            "sha256": "e43c1d294111db5834d006f064d33001b463860783ed8662a5f41a8e7354e4b8",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
              "0.9.1"
            ],
            "import_time": "2026-10-11T14:17:58.699850046Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-11T13:46:43Z"
          },
          {
            "sha256": "72bf8663ed3f4b92a50b3f9988ce63092fe827b55a65c726eee1f8f61163d890",
            "source": "ossf-package-analysis",
            "versions": [
              "0.9.1"
            ],
            "import_time": "2026-10-13T23:14:38.37938789Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-11T07:35:30Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": null
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 313740,
  "published_at": "2026-10-11T07:35:30+00:00"
}