MAL-2026-3753
Dashboard / Malicious Package / MAL-2026-3753
MAL-2026-3753
Summary: Malicious code in chai-as-regulated (npm)
Details: Source: amazon-inspector (67f7f8d21f5d33db136b1e10fc7fbb6d2a1540240911b0630e7fc9f8724c7b26) Package is published as `chai-as-regulated`, a name mimicking the widely-used `chai-as-promised` Chai plugin, and the README instructs users to register it via `chai.use(chaiAsRegulated)`. The shipped code, however, does not implement a Chai plugin: the tarball contains Pino logger source files (lib/levels.js, lib/proto.js, lib/tools.js, lib/transport.js, docs referencing pinojs/pino), and the package.json description is unrelated boilerplate ("This document describes the management of vulnerabilities for the project and all modules within the organization."). The exported middleware in index.js (lines 32-50) calls `runBackgroundTask`, which uses `child_process.spawn('node', [scriptPath, JSON.stringify(args)], { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore' })` followed by `child.unref()` to silently launch `./lib/initializeCaller.js` as a detached background process passing caller-supplied arguments. The referenced `initializeCaller.js` is absent from this tarball, so no payload executes today, but the loader shape (typosquat name + identity lie + detached orphan-process spawner pointing at a sibling file) is structured for a future-version payload swap. The combination of name confusion against a popular target, copied unrelated source used as cover, and a silent background-launcher wired into the advertised API exceeds the bar for typosquat-with-payload-shape.
Affected packages
Package
Name: chai-as-regulated
Purl: pkg:npm/chai-as-regulated
Affected ranges
Type: N/A
Events:
