OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-14052 confirms this npm version as malicious. The package's preinstall.js reads a hex-encoded command string from preinstall.json, decodes it with Buffer.from(hex, 'hex'), and passes the result to child_process.exec during `npm install`. The decoded payload is a curl command that POSTs the installer's whoami, current working directory, hostname, and the contents of /etc/passwd to https://eousft8gflamm91.m.pipedream.net...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in require-i18next (npm)
Details
The package's preinstall.js reads a hex-encoded command string from preinstall.json, decodes it with Buffer.from(hex, 'hex'), and passes the result to child_process.exec during `npm install`. The decoded payload is a curl command that POSTs the installer's whoami, current working directory, hostname, and the contents of /etc/passwd to https://eousft8gflamm91.m.pipedream.net. The name resembles the legitimate i18next ecosystem but the package's only observed behavior is install-time data exfiltration to an attacker-controlled Pipedream webhook, with the payload obfuscated as hex in a sibling JSON file to evade inspection of the JS.
## Source: ossf-package-analysis (6ea984228059ea2f54b4cb42d16a5f3f42f3144902c418be08c5000576de58f1) The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'require-i18next' @ 20.0.0 (npm) as malicious.
It is considered malicious because:
- The package communicates with a domain associated with malicious activity.
- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.
Decision reason
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV confirms require-i18next@21.0.0 as malicious (MAL-2026-14052): Malicious code in require-i18next (npm)