{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including @kelvdra/baileys.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-17362 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.","what":"MAL-2026-17362 is a malicious package in @kelvdra/baileys, published on 1 Oct 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-17362 is a malicious package: @kelvdra/baileys (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.\n\nTask:\n1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.\n2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.\n3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.\n4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17362/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17362/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-17362","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17362/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-17362","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"This package is part of a large family (100+ identified as of September 2026) of near-identical\nforks of the Baileys WhatsApp Web library that inject a covert channel-subscription action into\nthe WhatsApp socket layer. On connect, the injected code issues an authenticated `w:mex` FOLLOW\nquery (query_id 7871414976211147) against one or more attacker-chosen WhatsApp Channel/Newsletter\nJIDs, using the installer's own authenticated WhatsApp session -- silently subscribing the\nvictim's account to channels it never asked to join.\n\nThe target JID(s) are hidden from casual source review via one of several obfuscation techniques\nobserved across the family: a plain string literal, base64 encoding, base64+XOR, or a char-code\narray reconstructed at runtime. Some variants instead fetch a mutable, attacker-controlled remote\nJSON/JS list of target JIDs from GitHub or another host at runtime, letting the target list change\nafter installation without a new npm publish. Every sample in the family shares the same underlying\nmechanism (a wrapped/patched socket-connect routine that fires the FOLLOW query some seconds after\nconnect), even though the package name, JID value(s), and obfuscation/delivery method differ per\nfork.\n\nThe malicious action abuses the installer's own authenticated WhatsApp session to gain reach and\nsubscribers for attacker-controlled channels; it does not exfiltrate credentials, establish\npersistence, or execute arbitrary remote code.\n\nAffected package: @kelvdra/baileys (npm), version(s): 1.0.6-rc.1, 1.0.6, 1.0.5-rc.3.\n\npackage.json declares `libsignal` as `github:Kelvdra/libsignal` — an off-registry, mutable git source with no commit SHA, no version pin, and no integrity check. On `npm install`, npm fetches whatever the referenced GitHub tree contains at that moment and installs it, executing any lifecycle scripts (preinstall/install/postinstall/prepare) the fetched repository declares. Whoever controls the `Kelvdra/libsignal` repository controls arbitrary code execution on the installer's machine at install time. The dependency name `libsignal` also mirrors the well-known WhatsApp/Signal library commonly consumed via the Baileys ecosystem, but resolution is redirected to an author-owned GitHub tree rather than a pinned registry release. The static `ping` rule hit in lib/Utils/generics.js is a keyword co-occurrence in an ID/version generation helper and does not itself indicate exfiltration.","ecosystems":["npm"],"exploits":{"exploitdb":null,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":null,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":null,"nuclei":null,"refs":[],"tier":null},"has_fix":false,"headline":"Malicious code in @kelvdra/baileys (npm)","id":"MAL-2026-17362","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"npm","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"npm","fixed":[],"introduced":["0"],"last_affected":[],"package":"@kelvdra/baileys","purl":"pkg:npm/%40kelvdra/baileys","source":"MAL-2026-17362"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-10-01","related":[],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"Apache-2.0","name":"OpenSSF Malicious Packages","prefix":"MAL"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":null,"exploitation":null,"technical_impact":null},"state":null,"updated":null,"vendors":null},"summary":null,"url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17362/"}