OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-12106 confirms this npm version as malicious. Package name mimics MetaMask's official web3-provider-engine and its README advertises a drop-in replacement, but the exported API (connect/createWallet/generateMnemonic) is a hollow stub — generateMnemonic returns crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex') rather than a valid BIP-39 mnemonic, silently producing non-functional wallets. On module load via the declared main (index.js), the package reads the entire...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in @wethenorth12/web3-provider-engine (npm)
Details
Package name mimics MetaMask's official web3-provider-engine and its README advertises a drop-in replacement, but the exported API (connect/createWallet/generateMnemonic) is a hollow stub — generateMnemonic returns crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex') rather than a valid BIP-39 mnemonic, silently producing non-functional wallets. On module load via the declared main (index.js), the package reads the entire process.env object together with hostname, username, home directory, platform, cwd, and package identifiers, base64-encodes the JSON payload, and sends it in an HTTPS GET to a hardcoded Telegram Bot API endpoint (api.telegram.org, bot ID 7231970337, chat_id 8969499041). A marker file (.npi-<random>) in the OS temp directory suppresses repeat sends per host. Bulk enumeration of process.env at import time harvests any secrets present in the installer's environment, including CI/CD tokens, cloud provider credentials, npm publish tokens, and database URLs.
Decision reason
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV confirms @wethenorth12/web3-provider-engine@16.0.5 as malicious (MAL-2026-12106): Malicious code in @wethenorth12/web3-provider-engine (npm)