MAL-2026-17326

See a problem?
Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@zeronexcode/baileys/MAL-2026-17326.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-17326
Aliases
  • GHSA-cghr-f3w3-qh2h
Published
2026-09-25T15:37:42Z
Modified
2026-10-12T17:45:05Z
Summary
Malicious code in @zeronexcode/baileys (npm)
Details

makeWASocket() in lib/Socket/index.js makes the user's WhatsApp account follow the hardcoded channel 120363427099186895@newsletter whenever a connection opens, with no option to disable it.

-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-

Source: amazon-inspector (ed77130bf7a34aa77306ff8a654c0d51e2c2b68153849d89c100d13430322f88)

This fork of the Baileys WhatsApp library adds an undocumented behavior to its makeWASocket wrapper: on every connection.update event where the connection reaches 'open', it calls sock.newsletterFollow on a hardcoded newsletter JID (120363427099186895@newsletter), subscribing the installer's authenticated WhatsApp account to an author-controlled newsletter with no disclosure and no opt-out. The action fires under the installer's WhatsApp identity as a side effect of using the library's core socket API. Upstream Baileys does not perform this action. No credential theft, environment scraping, remote code execution, filesystem persistence, or data exfiltration is present; the ping/GET pattern flagged in lib/Utils/generics.js is a benign latency/keepalive helper. The observed harm is covert reach-padding under the installer's identity rather than material compromise of the installer's data or host.

Source: ghsa-malware (5dd9996269bfb2b5ea9c5310fed819139eaf2b663e740fc8be34052da1128e4e)

Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.

Database specific 
{
    "iocs":  {
        "files":  [
            {
                "digests":  {
                    "sha256":  "4c05d85abdf76d1b7a0644a87264309e8db7756abf907eeea1dcd5660d23e014"
                },
                "note":  "Auto-follows channel 120363427099186895@newsletter on connect.",
                "paths":  [
                    "package/lib/Socket/index.js"
                ],
                "source":  "PACKAGE_ARCHIVE"
            }
        ]
    },
    "malicious-packages-origins":  [
        {
            "id":  "IN-MAL-2026-021454",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-11T17:15:52.084272925Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-11T16:54:22Z",
            "sha256":  "ed77130bf7a34aa77306ff8a654c0d51e2c2b68153849d89c100d13430322f88",
            "source":  "amazon-inspector",
            "versions":  [
                "7.0.0-zeronex.8"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id":  "GHSA-cghr-f3w3-qh2h",
            "import_time":  "2026-10-12T17:27:28.141243013Z",
            "modified_time":  "2026-10-12T16:41:46Z",
            "ranges":  [
                {
                    "events":  [
                        {
                            "introduced":  "0"
                        }
                    ],
                    "type":  "SEMVER"
                }
            ],
            "sha256":  "5dd9996269bfb2b5ea9c5310fed819139eaf2b663e740fc8be34052da1128e4e",
            "source":  "ghsa-malware"
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

npm / @zeronexcode/baileys

Package

Name
@zeronexcode/baileys
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/%40zeronexcode/baileys

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

7.*
7.0.0-zeronex.8

Database specific

cwes 
[
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    },
    {
        "cweId":  "CWE-506",
        "description":  "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name":  "Embedded Malicious Code"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "evidence_files":  [
        {
            "path":  "lib/Socket/index.js",
            "sha256":  "4c05d85abdf76d1b7a0644a87264309e8db7756abf907eeea1dcd5660d23e014",
            "tlsh":  "0c119c5f9af7857109e3a895085f60e7b521a913b247e969731d4356cf8308888857ce"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity":  [
        {
            "filename":  "baileys-7.0.0-zeronex.8.tgz",
            "hashes":  {
                "sha1":  "09f1935b988b8e1a9853cd6e8bee70581cc1068b",
                "sha512_sri":  "sha512-6oWQhKpv5Nijb8BoyfmaUr44CrStvgup6o6vvIQRv4P1yEHcx49rDqUtxGlh3hvFDJFlhsA605IW0AkllnkdSQ=="
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@zeronexcode/baileys/MAL-2026-17326.json"