supply chain event / NVI-00009710 / Revision 1
Malicious code in eth-address-utils (RubyGems)
GitHub lists this malware advisory for eth-address-utils, eth-address-utils, eth-address-utils. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
eth-address-utils
source listed= 1.0.0
## Source: amazon-inspector (8ed9d372d4fc694697be41c22e7c4d02d873e53e16bde2336069787b7b961ce2) The gem advertises itself as an Ethereum address utility library but its extconf.rb (auto-executed by `gem install`) carries a base64-encoded payload that is decoded and passed to `eval` inside a double-forked, detached background process. The decoded payload sleeps 20-40 minutes and then opens a TCPSocket to the hardcoded remote host 45.138.12.177 on port 8090, bridging the socket to `IO.popen(['/bin/sh'],'r+')` — a reverse shell giving the operator of that IP full remote code execution on the installer's host under the installing user's privileges. The extension declares a native component named `req_throttle_mini` but ships no corresponding C sources; `create_makefile` is appended only as camouflage. Payload execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that skip CI environments, ephemeral/sandbox hostnames (uvm/firecracker/sandbox/vagrant), synthetic analyst usernames (sandbox/tester/analys/scanner), build paths under /tmp, /opt/rubygems, /workspace, systems with uptime under 1800 seconds, and hosts lacking developer-identity artifacts such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, or
eth-address-utils
source listed> 0
## Source: amazon-inspector (8ed9d372d4fc694697be41c22e7c4d02d873e53e16bde2336069787b7b961ce2) The gem advertises itself as an Ethereum address utility library but its extconf.rb (auto-executed by `gem install`) carries a base64-encoded payload that is decoded and passed to `eval` inside a double-forked, detached background process. The decoded payload sleeps 20-40 minutes and then opens a TCPSocket to the hardcoded remote host 45.138.12.177 on port 8090, bridging the socket to `IO.popen(['/bin/sh'],'r+')` — a reverse shell giving the operator of that IP full remote code execution on the installer's host under the installing user's privileges. The extension declares a native component named `req_throttle_mini` but ships no corresponding C sources; `create_makefile` is appended only as camouflage. Payload execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that skip CI environments, ephemeral/sandbox hostnames (uvm/firecracker/sandbox/vagrant), synthetic analyst usernames (sandbox/tester/analys/scanner), build paths under /tmp, /opt/rubygems, /workspace, systems with uptime under 1800 seconds, and hosts lacking developer-identity artifacts such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, or
eth-address-utils
source listed= 1.0.3
## Source: amazon-inspector (8ed9d372d4fc694697be41c22e7c4d02d873e53e16bde2336069787b7b961ce2) The gem advertises itself as an Ethereum address utility library but its extconf.rb (auto-executed by `gem install`) carries a base64-encoded payload that is decoded and passed to `eval` inside a double-forked, detached background process. The decoded payload sleeps 20-40 minutes and then opens a TCPSocket to the hardcoded remote host 45.138.12.177 on port 8090, bridging the socket to `IO.popen(['/bin/sh'],'r+')` — a reverse shell giving the operator of that IP full remote code execution on the installer's host under the installing user's privileges. The extension declares a native component named `req_throttle_mini` but ships no corresponding C sources; `create_makefile` is appended only as camouflage. Payload execution is gated by anti-analysis checks that skip CI environments, ephemeral/sandbox hostnames (uvm/firecracker/sandbox/vagrant), synthetic analyst usernames (sandbox/tester/analys/scanner), build paths under /tmp, /opt/rubygems, /workspace, systems with uptime under 1800 seconds, and hosts lacking developer-identity artifacts such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, or
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-cg29-22qj-86m4 ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
Public revision history
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.