ranux-cloudnpm
Advisory published Updated
ranux-cloud is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14258) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in ranux-cloud (npm)
What this malware does
The package main (index.js) is obfuscator.io-transformed with a rotated string-array decoder and, at top level, uses createDecipheriv with a hardcoded AES key/iv/aad to decrypt an embedded ~2.3 MB opaque blob. The decrypted bytes are executed via a top-level await import('data:'+...) and the resulting module is re-exported as startRanuxEngine, so any consumer that requires or imports ranux-cloud immediately runs the hidden payload with no user interaction. In addition, package.json redirects the well-known dependency @whiskeysockets/baileys to github:rcedubot/X — an unrelated personal GitHub repository, unpinned to any commit SHA — so npm install pulls arbitrary code from that repo (including any lifecycle scripts) into the installer's dependency tree in place of the legitimate Baileys library. The combination of encrypted-payload import-time execution, heavy obfuscation of the loader, and a dependency-hijack pointing a namespaced dep at an attacker-controlled GitHub tree is the canonical loader/dropper shape.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for ranux-cloud (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
Remove ranux-cloud from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If ranux-cloud was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks ranux-cloud-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.