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OpenAdvisories
Malicious MAL-2026-14052

require-i18next

npm package · versions 20.0.0, 21.0.0

Reported Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 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 (5b5f50249e747ea23b84fdc6baa2202e9d786a872fd7d9a545017dc6fc5ad788)
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.