🛡️ MAL-2026-13401 — helmet-pro

Malicious code in helmet-pro (npm)

Source: amazon-inspector

[email protected] is a typosquat of the popular helmet HTTP-header middleware. Its package.json postinstall hook runs lib/utils/index.js, which spawns lib/utils/smtp-connection/index.js as a detached child with all stdio silenced. That file is string-array/hex-name obfuscated and, when decoded, performs an axios.get against https://api.jsonbin.io/v3/b/6a719632da38895dfeb7128d and passes the returned record.message to new Function('require',...)(require). The result is arbitrary remote code execution on the installer's machine at npm install time, with require available to the fetched payload. The jsonbin.io record is attacker-mutable, so the executed payload can change at any time without republishing the package. The package also masquerades in metadata/comments as a nodemailer-adjacent SMTP module to disguise the dropper.