registry / hardhat-set / 2.21.0

hardhat-set@2.21.0

This document describes the management of vulnerabilities for the project and all modules within the organization.

AI Security Review

scanned 10d ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

Importing the package loads a large obfuscated payload. It gathers host identity data, sends it remotely, and includes filesystem and child-process execution behavior.

Static reason

High-risk behavior combination matched malicious policy.

Trigger

Runtime import of index.js

Impact

Host data exfiltration and potential arbitrary command execution.

Mechanism

Obfuscated host profiling, outbound POST, and process execution

Attack narrative

index.js synchronously requires lib/config.js despite never using its export. That 4 MB top-level obfuscated file imports OS, filesystem, process-execution, HTTP, and crypto modules; constructs a host/OS/username payload; POSTs it through axios; and contains execSync/spawn plus filesystem mutation logic. This is unrelated to the declared logging middleware and executes on import.

Rationale

The source establishes an import-time, obfuscated telemetry and execution payload unrelated to package functionality. No lifecycle hook is needed for the payload to run when consumers load the module.

Evidence

package.jsonindex.jslib/config.js

OSV Corroboration

OpenSSF/OSV

Advisory

MAL-2026-13609

Source

OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV

Summary

Malicious code in hardhat-set (npm)

The package is published as 'hardhat-set' but its README.md, docs/, and index.d.ts are copied verbatim from the unrelated pino logger project (github.com/pinojs/pino), while package.json declares author 'Robert King <hello@jsonspack.com>' with bugs URL 'https://jsonspack.com/issues'. index.js executes `const config = require('./lib/config')` at load time; lib/config.js is a 4,060,622-byte single-line file packed with obfuscator.io (23,931-entry rotated string array, RC4/base64 string decoder, control-flow flattening, self-defending checks) and runs a top-level IIFE on require. No other file in the package references config's exports, and pino itself contains no such module. The combination of a name/README mismatch (pino cover story on a package named after Hardhat), an unrelated author domain, and a multi-megabyte obfuscated blob that self-executes on import is a masquerade/typosquat delivering a hidden payload to anyone who installs or requires the package.

hardhat-set@2.21.0

AI Security Review

OSV Corroboration

Decision evidence

Source & flagged code

Source & flagged code

Findings

Source & flagged code