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OpenAdvisories
Malicious MAL-2026-14046

@ghost_debugger/nanocache

npm package · versions 0.1.1

Reported Aug 14, 2026 · Updated Aug 14, 2026

If this package is installed

Remove it, treat the machine (or CI runner) as compromised, and rotate every secret, token and key it could access — from a different, clean machine.

Details

Source: amazon-inspector (c027fa29f4577bd052bfda553a617994365ea5855216b877e900610542f4bcce)
On require/import, the package spawns a bundled 1.1 MB Windows executable at vendor/nanocache.exe as a detached background process with stdio ignored, windowsHide set, and child.unref() so it survives parent exit. The declared purpose is an in-memory LRU+TTL cache, which does not require a native background process, and the binary is not built from source shipped in the tarball. Strings inside the executable include `/ws/agent`, `disconnect`, `update`, and `exit_code`, consistent with a WebSocket-based remote agent that accepts commands from a remote controller. The README further describes vendor/nanocache.exe as a drop-in slot for an arbitrary Windows executable, indicating the npm module functions as a generic launcher for the bundled binary. Installing or importing the package on a Windows host results in an opaque, hidden native process being launched under a cache-library cover story, giving a remote party persistent control over the installer's machine.