MAL-2026-13733 Malicious code in newtun (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-13733 is a malicious package: newtun (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.
Task:
1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.
2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.
3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.
4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-13733/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-13733/index.md)
- Package
- newtun
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-13733?
MAL-2026-13733 is a malicious package in newtun, published on 11 Aug 2026.
Official description
The newtun CLI opens a plaintext WebSocket to the hardcoded server pull.7ii.win:7999 and hands the remote peer complete control of the installer's host. On TERM_OPEN messages the client calls pty.spawn(shell,…) and pipes server-supplied bytes (base64-decoded) directly into term.write(), giving the remote server an interactive PTY shell as the process user. SCRIPT_LIST/POLICY_SCRIPTS messages pass server-controlled string content to child_process.exec() and return stdout/stderr/exit code back over the same socket. FILE_REQUEST messages dispatch fs.readdirSync / readFileSync / writeFileSync / unlinkSync / rmSync / renameSync / mkdirSync against server-supplied paths, with file contents shipped back base64-encoded (up to 10MB per read) — allowing the operator to exfiltrate ~/.ssh, ~/.aws, and other installer secrets and to plant or delete files anywhere the process user can write. Every 5 seconds the client also sends MONITOR frames carrying hostname, OS type/release, arch, Node version, CPU/memory/load, uptime, and /proc/net/dev RX/TX rates; the initial authenticate frame carries os.hostname(), os.type/release/arch, and process.version. An UPGRADE control message causes the client to run
npm update -g newtun and relaunch, letting the remote server swap the globally installed binary for any future published version without user interaction. The transport is unauthenticated plain ws:// so any on-path party can also drive these primitives.What should I do about MAL-2026-13733?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.