# MAL-2026-18120: Malicious code in @alannxd/baileys (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `@alannxd/baileys` (npm)
- **Published:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7345-fjw8-x55w

## What is MAL-2026-18120?

MAL-2026-18120 is a malicious package in @alannxd/baileys, published on 21 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

This is a fork of the Baileys WhatsApp library. On every `require('@alannxd/baileys')`, the package's main entry (`lib/index.js`) performs an unconditional HTTPS GET to `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alannzxd/xclient/refs/heads/main/information.json` on a mutable branch of the author's personal GitHub repo and prints one string from the response via `console.log`. The response body is only logged — it is not passed to `eval`/`exec`/`Function`/`require` — so this is a covert usage phone-home (leaks installer IP + User-Agent + import-time signal to the author on each load) rather than a remote-code-execution channel. Separately, `package.json` declares `"libsignal": "npm:@alannxd/libsignal-node@latest"`, aliasing the well-known `libsignal` import specifier to an author-scoped package tracked at `latest`; every `require('libsignal')` inside this package resolves to whatever the author currently publishes there, giving the author a persistent mutable code channel into consumers' dependency trees. The `ping` and `child_process`/HTTP patterns matched by pattern rules resolve to Baileys' normal media-upload and connectivity code paths (POST/GET against WhatsApp media endpoints), not to attacker infrastructure. No credential harvesting, no environment scraping, no filesystem enumeration, and no exfiltration of caller data were observed in the traced code. Concerns are undisclosed import-time beacon to author-controlled mutable infrastructure and an unpinned author-controlled alias overriding a well-known module name — both consent/transparency issues warranting human review of maintainer trust before recommending this fork.

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.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-18120?

Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
MAL-2026-18120 is a malicious package: @alannxd/baileys (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-2026-18120/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18120/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18120

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-18120/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.