Malicious code in @variational/common-ui (npm)
The package is advertised as 'Shared UI constants and utilities' but lib/index.js executes a malicious payload on require(). Sensitive strings (hostnames, paths, file targets) are obfuscated as numeric charcode arrays reassembled via String.fromCharCode to evade static scanners. After a randomized 0.5-2.5s delay, the module reads installer credentials from ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa, ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, ~/.ssh/config, ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.aws/config, ~/.kube/config, ~/.npmrc, ~/.netrc, ~/.docker/config.json, ~/.git-credentials, gcloud application-default credentials, gh hosts.yml, terraform credentials, Azure profile,.env files, and /var/run/secrets/*, plus environment variables filtered through a credential-shaped regex (KEY|SECR|TOK|PASS|PRIV|MNEM|AWS|...), and POSTs them to http://vexar-space.org/api/telemetry over plaintext HTTP. The module also queries the AWS instance metadata service (169.254.169.254 /latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/) and the GCP metadata service (metadata.google.internal /computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/default/token with Metadata-Flavor: Google) to capture live cloud IAM credentials on EC2/GCE/EKS/GKE hosts. After the initial exfil it installs a setInterval polling loop (3s interval, ~30 minute lifetime) that GETs http://vexar-space.org/api/s?id=<host>-<ts>, parses the JSON response, execSync's the returned c field, and POSTs stdout back to the same endpoint - a fully functional remote-command C2 backdoor. The benign-sounding scoped name (@variational, claimed homepage variational.io) is cover-story metadata.
MAL-2026-6272 is recorded against 1 package.
Published on 22 June 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
www.npmjs.com (Package)
Details
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| @variational/common-ui | — | — |
References
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