@hanssoft/libsignal-nodenpm
@hanssoft/libsignal-node is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4393) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious version 3.0.4). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @hanssoft/libsignal-node (npm)
What this malware does
Package name impersonates the well-known libsignal-node Signal Protocol library and ships a verbatim copy of its README, but the code is unrelated. On require, index.js schedules require('./install').installNewsletterAutoFollow() via setTimeout. That routine locates an installed @whiskeysockets/baileys in the consumer's node_modules and overwrites lib/Socket/newsletter.js with attacker-authored source (fs.writeFileSync(newsletterPath, MODIFIED_NEWSLETTER_JS)). The injected payload fetches a channel-ID list from a mutable GitHub raw URL (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hanssoft-studio/channelid/refs/heads/main/idch.json) and silently issues newsletterWMexQuery(id, QueryIds.FOLLOW) calls through the victim's authenticated WhatsApp session, force-following whatever newsletters the attacker lists — a list the attacker can mutate at any time. After patching, the installer writes a .cache sentinel inside baileys' node_modules and calls process.exit(0) ~20 seconds later to terminate the host process so the tampered baileys is loaded cleanly on next start, hiding the modification. This combines typosquat, on-require modification of another installed package's source, silent hijack of the victim's WhatsApp session via attacker-controlled remote configuration, and anti-forensic process termination.
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.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for @hanssoft/libsignal-node (version 3.0.4). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging @hanssoft/libsignal-node across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
@hanssoft/libsignal-node is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove @hanssoft/libsignal-node, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If @hanssoft/libsignal-node was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.
How O3 protects you
O3 blocks @hanssoft/libsignal-node before install through its supply-chain scanner, and if it has already run, detects and severs the exfiltration or C2 callback at runtime through L7 egress monitoring and eBPF.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks @hanssoft/libsignal-node-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.