registry / AI-agent control-surface risk / @chem-x/create-chemx / 26.9.16-1249

@chem-x/create-chemx@26.9.16-1249

Chemical X Protocol: Private drop-in architecture starter kit and capsule generator

AI Security Review

scanned 11d ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

Source confirms an unconsented postinstall mutation of consumer AI-agent configuration, enabling the package's MCP server in those clients. This meets the policy for blocking agent control-surface hijacking; the separate interactive wizard does not guard the lifecycle path.

Static reason

High-risk behavior combination matched malicious policy.; previous stored version diff introduced dangerous source; source closely matched a different package identity

Trigger

npm installation of this package in a consumer project.

Impact

The affected agent clients are configured to expose the package's MCP server.

Mechanism

The postinstall hook calls the MCP installer, which writes a Chemical X server entry into agent configuration files.

Policy narrative

The package declares a postinstall hook that invokes the MCP configuration installer for the consumer directory. The installer writes project-level Cursor and VS Code MCP settings and can update the user's Antigravity configuration. This agent integration is applied during installation without a consent prompt.

AI rationale

Evidence

package.jsoncli/postinstall.jscli/mcp/installer.js.cursor/mcp.json.vscode/mcp.json~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json

Decision evidence

public snapshot

AI identified this as a dangerous AI-agent capability at 99.0% confidence with low false-positive risk.

Evidence for policy risk

package.json runs cli/postinstall.js during npm installation.
The postinstall hook calls installAllMcpConfigs for the consumer directory without a consent prompt.
That installer writes MCP configuration into project-level Cursor and VS Code settings and also targets the user's Antigravity configuration.
The installed configuration registers a Chemical X MCP server, enabling it in those agent clients.

Evidence against

The separate setup wizard presents explicit choices before installing MCP configuration; that does not gate the postinstall hook.
The installer test confirms the project MCP configuration is created, but provides no evidence of credential access or data exfiltration.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNetworkShell

Supply chain

HighEntropyStringsUrlStrings

ManifestNo manifest risk signals triggered.

Source & flagged code

10 flagged

package.jsonView file

Lines 31-70json

31 ".": "./cli/index.js",

32 "./audit": "./cli/audit.js",

33 "./build": "./cli/build.js",

34 "./search": "./cli/search.js",

35 "./mcp": "./cli/mcp/index.js",

36 "./reader": "./cli/reader.js",

37 "./patcher": "./cli/patcher.js"

38 },

39 "scripts": {

40 "publish:both": "node scripts/publish-both.mjs",

41 "test": "node --test cli/audit/*.spec.js cli/mcp/*.spec.js cli/*.spec.js",

42 "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",

43 "create-capsule": "node cli/index.js",

44 "audit": "node cli/index.js audit",

45 "ci:audit": "node cli/index.js audit --ci --dir=cli",

46 "chemx": "node cli/index.js",

47 "q": "node cli/index.js q",

48 "search": "node cli/index.js search",

49 "mcp": "node cli/index.js mcp",

50 "install-mcp": "node cli/index.js install-mcp",

51 "postinstall": "node cli/postinstall.js",

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L51

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L51

52 "read": "node cli/index.js read",

53 "patch": "node cli/index.js patch"

54 },

55 "dependencies": {

56 "@babel/parser": "^7.29.8",

57 "@babel/traverse": "^7.29.8",

58 "@babel/types": "^7.29.8",

59 "react": "^18.3.1",

60 "react-dom": "^18.3.1"

61 },

62 "devDependencies": {

63 "@types/babel__traverse": "^7.28.0",

64 "@types/node": "^22.20.2",

65 "@types/react": "^18.3.31",

66 "@types/react-dom": "^18.3.7",

67 "typescript": "^5.9.3"

68 }

69}

cli/audit-preflight-git.jsView file

1import fs from 'node:fs'; L2: import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'; L3:

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

cli/audit-preflight-git.jsView on unpkg · L1

cli/terminal.jsView file

10} else if (platform === "win32") { L11: spawnSync("cmd.exe", ["/c", "start", '""', url], { stdio: "ignore", timeout: 3000 }); L12: } else {

High

Shell

Package source references shell execution.

cli/terminal.jsView on unpkg · L10

cli/license.jsView file

3import os from 'node:os'; L4: import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'; L5: import { ... L17: L18: export const API_BASE = process.env.CHEMICAL_X_API_URL || 'https://chemicalx.xophz.com'; L19: export const GATEKEEPER_API_URL = process.env.COMPASS_GATEKEEPER_URL || 'https://mycompassconsulting.com/wp-json/compass/v1/gatekeeper';

High

Same File Env Network Execution

A single source file combines environment access, network access, and code or shell execution; review context before blocking.

cli/license.jsView on unpkg · L3

cli/mcp/installer.jsView file

1Install-time code directly mutates a foreign AI-agent control surface: L17: export const mergeMcpServerConfig = (existingJsonString = '', serverDef = {}) => { L18: let parsed = { mcpServers: {} }; L19: ... L27: L28: const hasMcpServersObject = Boolean(parsed.mcpServers && typeof parsed.mcpServers === 'object'); L29: if (!hasMcpServersObject) { L30: parsed.mcpServers = {}; L31: } L32: L33: parsed.mcpServers[SERVER_KEY] = serverDef; L34: return JSON.stringify(parsed, null, 2) + '\n'; ... L87: const cursorDir = path.join(resolvedTarget, '.cursor'); Write operation from cli/mcp/installer.js: L17: export const mergeMcpServerConfig = (existingJsonString = '', serverDef = {}) => { L18: let parsed = { mcpServers: {} }; L19: ... L27: L28: const hasMcpServersObject = Boolean(parsed.mcpServers &

Critical

Ai Agent Control Hijack

Source creates an unconsented AI-agent control surface through install-time mutation or a default unauthenticated remote skill channel.

cli/mcp/installer.jsView on unpkg · L1

cli/scaffold.jsView file

•Manifest-trigger-reachable source links an external AI-agent control path to a behavior-bearing write operation. import fs from 'node:fs'; import path from 'node:path'; import { hasgum, guminput, promptquestion, renderbanner } from './terminal.js'; import { obtainlicensekey, fetchstarterkitfiles, loadlocalblueprintfiles } from './license.js'; export const runscaffold = async (projectname, rawargs = [], onrunaudit = null) => { renderbanner('chemical x: molecular architecture scaffolder (npm create chemx)'); const licensekey = await obtainlicensekey(rawargs, onrunaudit); let iscommunity = false; let files = {}; if (!licensekey) { process.stdout.write( '\n\x1b[38;2;98;201;255m⚡ chemical x: community edition (free)\x1b[0m\n' + 'the community version is free because

High

Trigger Reachable External Ai Agent Control Surface Mutation

Manifest-trigger-reachable source writes behavior-bearing configuration into a user or project AI-agent control surface.

cli/scaffold.jsView on unpkg

scripts/pre-commit.shView file

•matchType = previous_version_dangerous_delta matchedPackage = @chem-x/create-chemx@26.9.14-1358 matchedIdentity = npm:QGNoZW0teC9jcmVhdGUtY2hlbXg:26.9.14-1358 similarity = 0.786 summary = stored previous version shares package body but lacks this dangerous source file

High

Previous Version Dangerous Delta

This package version adds a dangerous source file absent from the previous stored version; route for source-aware review.

scripts/pre-commit.shView on unpkg

•path = scripts/pre-commit.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 4608 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Ships Build Helper

Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files.

scripts/pre-commit.shView on unpkg

cli/audit/social-git.jsView file

•matchType = package_source_clone_identity_mismatch matchedPackage = create-chemx@26.9.14-1358 matchedPath = cli/audit/ai-slop-detector.js matchedIdentity = npm:Y3JlYXRlLWNoZW14:26.9.14-1358 similarity = 0.671 shingleOverlap = 47 summary = source files closely matched a different published package identity

High

Package Source Clone Identity Mismatch

Package source closely matches a different published package identity; review for dependency-confusion or copied-code abuse.

cli/audit/social-git.jsView on unpkg

Source & flagged code

10 flagged · loading source

package.jsonView file

•scripts.postinstall = node cli/postinstall.js

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg

•scripts.postinstall = node cli/postinstall.js

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg

cli/audit-preflight-git.jsView file

1import fs from 'node:fs'; L2: import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'; L3:

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

cli/audit-preflight-git.jsView on unpkg · L1

Findings

1 Critical7 High5 Medium4 Low

CriticalAi Agent Control Hijackcli/mcp/installer.js

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

HighChild Processcli/audit-preflight-git.js

HighShellcli/terminal.js

HighSame File Env Network Executioncli/license.js

HighTrigger Reachable External Ai Agent Control Surface Mutationcli/scaffold.js

HighPrevious Version Dangerous Deltascripts/pre-commit.sh

HighPackage Source Clone Identity Mismatchcli/audit/social-git.js

MediumAmbiguous Install Lifecycle Scriptpackage.json

MediumNetwork

MediumEnvironment Vars

MediumShips Build Helperscripts/pre-commit.sh

Affected versions and remediation

This report applies to @chem-x/create-chemx@26.9.16-1249.

See all versions of @chem-x/create-chemx for other recorded verdicts.

Avoid installing @chem-x/create-chemx@26.9.16-1249. Remove it from direct dependencies and check your lockfile for transitive copies.
Choose an independently verified alternative or release. This report does not establish that other versions are safe.
If this version ran, investigate the affected machine and build environment. Rotate credentials it could access and rebuild from a trusted environment.

Evidence last updated: 2026-10-12 06:04:11.522Z (UTC).

Think this verdict is wrong? Dispute it on GitHub or read how reports are produced.

AI Security Review

Decision evidence

Source & flagged code

Source & flagged code

Findings

Affected versions and remediation

Related packages

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Other AI-agent control-surface risk packages

Behavioral surface

Related packages

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Other AI-agent control-surface risk packages

Source & flagged code