OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-4488 confirms this npm version as malicious. On require('auth-basic-vault'), lib/writer.js attempts to require('authcascade') at module top level and, on failure, shells out via execSync to `npm install authcascade --no-warnings --no-save --no-progress --loglevel silent` and then requires '../../authcascade/pino.js'. The fetched package is unpinned (no version constraint), not declared in package.json dependencies, and executed automatically without consent...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in auth-basic-vault (npm)
Details
On require('auth-basic-vault'), lib/writer.js attempts to require('authcascade') at module top level and, on failure, shells out via execSync to `npm install authcascade --no-warnings --no-save --no-progress --loglevel silent` and then requires '../../authcascade/pino.js'. The fetched package is unpinned (no version constraint), not declared in package.json dependencies, and executed automatically without consent. The same file builds an error string via a long String.fromCharCode chain to mask the failure path from static analysis, and defines a getMacAddress() helper that enumerates os.networkInterfaces() to collect external IPv4 MAC addresses — host fingerprinting scaffolding for the dynamically loaded payload. Package identity is inconsistent: package.json declares 'auth-basic-vault' with a Basic Authentication description and pino-style keywords, while README presents the package as 'fabric-grachics' with unrelated example code; the codebase is pino-derived. The package exists to host the dropper, not to provide its advertised functionality.
Decision reason
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV confirms auth-basic-vault@1.1.5 as malicious (MAL-2026-4488): Malicious code in auth-basic-vault (npm)