path-internalnpm
Advisory published Updated
path-internal is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-2930) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in path-internal (npm)
What this malware does
The package presents itself as a copy of the Node.js core path module (name path-internal, README: "exact copy of the NodeJS 'path' module") and ships the upstream Joyent path implementation with a malicious dropper spliced between posix.basename and posix.extname in path.js. On require('path-internal'), the module decodes a base64-encoded URL (https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/YCW2F, stored under the misleading variable name randomStringRe), fetches the JSON document at that URL, and passes data.content straight to eval(). A second identical IIFE for https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/TPQHE is present (commented out) under tokenStringRe. jsonkeeper.com is an anonymous, mutable paste host: the attacker can change the served payload at any time to execute arbitrary code in-process on every installer that imports the package. The base64 obfuscation, the regex-shaped decoy variable names, the splice into a verbatim copy of a Node stdlib module, and the typosquat name (with the README also confusingly suggesting npm install --save path-external) collectively confirm malicious intent rather than negligence.
The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'path-internal' @ 1.0.10 (npm) as malicious.
It is considered malicious because:
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The package communicates with a domain associated with malicious activity.
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The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for path-internal (16 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
path-internal is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove path-internal, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If path-internal was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
- OpenSSF: Package Analysis · finder
- ReversingLabs · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks path-internal-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.