# MAL-2026-5617: Malicious code in sysnu (npm)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `sysnu` (npm)
- **Published:** 11 Jun 2026

## What is MAL-2026-5617?

MAL-2026-5617 is a malicious package in sysnu, published on 11 Jun 2026. 

### Official description

On require() / CLI invocation, sysnu performs two install-time-equivalent actions on Windows hosts. First, if `python` is not on PATH, index.js (lines 42-46) runs `curl -s -L -o <tmp>\python-3.12.3-amd64.exe https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.12.3/python-3.12.3-amd64.exe` and then executes the installer with `/quiet InstallAllUsers=0 PrependPath=1`, deleting the installer afterwards. Code comments explicitly describe this as a 'GHOST INSTALLER' with 'No UI, No Admin Popup' — i.e., the runtime is provisioned and PATH is mutated with no user consent. Second, index.js line 73 unconditionally runs `pip install pyperclip keyboard requests pillow mss pyautogui pywin32 uiautomation comtypes --quiet` — a Windows surveillance stack covering keylogging (keyboard), screen capture (mss/pillow), input automation (pyautogui), clipboard scraping (pyperclip), and UI automation (uiautomation/comtypes/pywin32). Index.js line 81 then spawns `python pointer.py`, but `pointer.py` is NOT present in the tarball, so the package is a stager awaiting an out-of-band payload that will execute with the freshly-installed surveillance primitives available. The package's advertised purpose ('System binary configuration tool') has no relationship to clipboard/keyboard/screen capture. Metadata is placeholder-grade (author 'ABC', no repository/homepage, generic description), consistent with a throwaway dropper account.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-5617?

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-2026-5617 is a malicious package: sysnu (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-2026-5617/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5617/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-5617

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-5617/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.