MAL-2026-16278 Malicious code in xzvbailey (npm)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-16278 is a malicious package: xzvbailey (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-2026-16278/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16278/index.md)
- Package
- xzvbailey
- Registry
- npm
What is MAL-2026-16278?
MAL-2026-16278 is a malicious package in xzvbailey, published on 18 Sep 2026.
Official description
package.json declares the
libsignal dependency as github:tenka-san/libsignal-node, a non-registry source pointing at a personal GitHub account with no tag or commit SHA. On npm install, npm fetches whatever the default branch's HEAD points to at that moment and runs any lifecycle scripts inside the cloned repo, so the owner of that account controls code that executes on the installer's machine. The account is unrelated to the upstream Baileys/libsignal publishers, and the package's own metadata is inconsistent (homepage and repository fields point at a Telegram URL while the bug tracker points at a different GitHub org, pou-code/Baileys), which is consistent with a repackaged Baileys lure rather than a legitimate fork.What should I do about MAL-2026-16278?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.