---
id: CVE-2026-48161
title: react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim
summary: >-
  react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim. Between 2026-05-19 01:07:01 and
  2026-05-19 15:20:43, the default branch contained malicious commits
  7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 through
  7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 that e…
severity: none
cwe:
  - CWE-506
published: '2026-08-10'
updated: '2026-09-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-18T20:09:01.757'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-48161'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/dai-shi/react18-use/security/advisories/GHSA-32xh-vg5f-64fm
    label: security-advisories@github.com
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00671
epssPercentile: 0.49843
ingestedAt: '2026-09-18T20:51:25.599Z'
---

## Overview

react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim. Between 2026-05-19 01:07:01 and 2026-05-19 15:20:43, the default branch contained malicious commits 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 through 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 that executed remote attacker-controlled code on developer machines during `npm install`. The commits were removed by force-push, but local clones, forks, and direct-SHA URLs may still contain them, and `npm install` against an affected checkout will still execute the code today. The package was not published to npm. `src/install.js` was added and wired into the `postinstall` script. It fetched a JavaScript payload from an attacker-controlled HTTPS endpoint (configurable via an environment variable), disabled TLS verification, and evaluated the response as code with `require` available. Execution was deliberately skipped on CI and cloud/serverless environments, targeting developer workstations. The second-stage payload was attacker-hosted and cannot be reconstructed. Assume full compromise of anything reachable from a Node process with the user's permissions. Those who ran `npm install` against an affected checkout on a developer machine on or after 2026-05-19 01:07:01 should treat the machine as compromised, rotate every credential the machine could reach, audit account activity since 2026-05-19 01:07:01, and clean local clones.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.