OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-14433 confirms this npm version as malicious. The package's preinstall lifecycle script fires automatically on npm install and collects the installer's OS username, hostname, current working directory, and the enclosing project's package.json name/author/version (obtained by walking up parents of __dirname). The JSON payload is hex-encoded, split into 60-character chunks, and leaked as DNS labels via dns.lookup queries under the hardcoded subdomain...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in manticore-log (npm)
Details
The package's preinstall lifecycle script fires automatically on npm install and collects the installer's OS username, hostname, current working directory, and the enclosing project's package.json name/author/version (obtained by walking up parents of __dirname). The JSON payload is hex-encoded, split into 60-character chunks, and leaked as DNS labels via dns.lookup queries under the hardcoded subdomain da5u87oh92rc72pp1dngqfc6hp8gwshm6.o.jgl.red, with a fallback DNS query on error. The chunked hex-over-DNS transport is a covert-channel technique that evades many egress filters. Package metadata is minimal (placeholder main, empty author) and inconsistent with any legitimate logging library, matching a dependency-confusion reconnaissance beacon pattern.
Decision reason
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV confirms manticore-log@9.4.3 as malicious (MAL-2026-14433): Malicious code in manticore-log (npm)