{"id":"MAL-2026-18900","summary":"Malicious code in @skycodee/baileys (npm)","details":"@skycodee/baileys is a fork of the Baileys WhatsApp Web library that silently subscribes the installer's own WhatsApp account to WhatsApp Channels chosen by the publisher. When the socket connects, code in lib/Socket/socket.js sends the WhatsApp w:mex FOLLOW query for a list downloaded at runtime from https://raw.github.com/skyzopedia/NewsletterID/refs/heads/main/VIP_Push.json (the URL itself stored as character-code arrays), using the victim's authenticated session and without telling them. Same behaviour as the PhantomSub family (MAL-2026-17342).\n\nUpdate 2026-11-06: a second covert path, in every version from 8.0.5 to 8.0.15. lib/Utils/messages-media.js exports loadBase, which makeNewsletterSocket (lib/Socket/newsletter.js) calls on every socket creation as loadBase(newsletterWMexQuery, QueryIds). 80 seconds later it fetches a channel list from a URL stored as base64 and, 5 seconds apart, calls newsletterWMexQuery(id, QueryIds.FOLLOW) for each entry, swallowing errors and logging nothing. lib/Utils/messages-media.js sha256 657662b2ae2e8cc1808715d8219d4e7ca7182f6eacda8d79b1cee4b721c88939 in all eleven (byte-identical to @rixxcodex/baileys 8.2.0); the URL decodes to https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skyzopedia/Screaper/refs/heads/main/idChannel.json. 8.0.5 to 8.0.11 have only this path, so they are added to the affected versions. 8.0.0 to 8.0.4 ship no lib/ directory and are not listed. CyberXYZ read every published version statically from the npm registry tarballs on 2026-11-06 (integrity verified); nothing was executed. Amazon Inspector described the same loadBase loop in @rixxcodex/baileys (MAL-2026-16483).","modified":"2026-11-09T23:15:16.646366184Z","published":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z","database_specific":{"iocs":{"domains":["raw.github.com","raw.githubusercontent.com"],"files":[{"digests":{"sha256":"06405c29cb4a8dd2596b642a909dc312dcea547624c8a66469ded844214f5dbe"},"paths":["lib/Socket/socket.js"]},{"digests":{"sha256":"54b4a5de4d9c5578a33097b5f0400863e1aadd0135bd6e4255be8b0c0558d2d5"},"paths":["lib/Socket/socket.js"]},{"digests":{"sha256":"ea57a6770cf2c246e27a5ffe85ffeb496624f9b1582868d5dff184fd6369a394"},"paths":["lib/Socket/socket.js"]},{"paths":["lib/Utils/messages-media.js"],"digests":{"sha256":"657662b2ae2e8cc1808715d8219d4e7ca7182f6eacda8d79b1cee4b721c88939"}}],"ips":[],"urls":["https://raw.github.com/skyzopedia/NewsletterID/refs/heads/main/VIP_Push.json","https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skyzopedia/Screaper/refs/heads/main/idChannel.json"]}},"references":[{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://www.npmjs.com/package/@skycodee/baileys"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://www.ox.security/blog/phantomsub-malicious-npm-campaign-secretly-adds-users-to-whatsapp-spam-channels/"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"@skycodee/baileys","ecosystem":"npm","purl":"pkg:npm/%40skycodee/baileys"},"versions":["8.0.5","8.0.6","8.0.7","8.0.8","8.0.9","8.0.10","8.0.11","8.0.12","8.0.13","8.0.14","8.0.15"],"database_specific":{"cwes":[{"name":"Embedded Malicious Code","cweId":"CWE-506","description":"The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature."}],"source":"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/npm/@skycodee/baileys/MAL-2026-18900.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.2","credits":[{"name":"CyberXYZ","contact":["https://cyberxyz.io"],"type":"FINDER"}]}