MAL-2026-17619 Malicious code in dzyclutch (npm)

dzyclutch is a Baileys-family WhatsApp library fork that adds an undocumented behavior: 30 seconds after a WhatsApp connection opens, newsletter.js fetches a JSON list of newsletter JIDs from a hardcoded author-controlled GitHub raw URL (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/noxXza/data/refs/heads/main/noxleys.json, mutable main branch) and uses the installer's authenticated WhatsApp session to issue newsletterFollow then newsletterMute for each JID, so the subscription is hidden from the account owner. A related file (messages-recv.js) obfuscates a hardcoded newsletter JID (120363428355171197@newsletter) and the strings newsletterFollow and newsletterMute via a char-code decoder, concealing the identifiers of the covert-subscription payload from source review. The remote list is author-mutable, so the set of channels the installer's account is silently subscribed to can be changed at any time without any package update. No installer credential theft, remote code execution, filesystem persistence, or exfiltration of installer data to a non-WhatsApp destination is present; the material effect is covert use of the installer's WhatsApp identity to pad reach of channels the author chooses, with the mute step hiding the action from the account owner.

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.