The @dexwilt/node-fetch package impersonates the legitimate node-fetch project: its package metadata copies the upstream repository, author, and homepage while publishing under an unrelated scope. Its CommonJS entry point lib/index.js contains the expected node-fetch implementation followed by approximately 94 KB of additional RC4/Base64-obfuscated code. The ESM builds do not contain this appended payload.

Agent-assisted deobfuscation of the appended payload recovered a cross-platform download and execution chain. It retrieves a remote binary from an encrypted endpoint, records and verifies the downloaded file's SHA-256 value, and starts the binary with detached, hidden-window, and ignored-stdio options before unreferencing the child process. The original obfuscated source independently exposes the detached, windowsHide, stdio, environment, working-directory, size, SHA-256, and download timestamp fields used by this chain. Loading the package's declared main entry point therefore executes a concealed remote payload loader embedded after otherwise legitimate node-fetch code.

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Credit: OpenSSF (source)