OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-13733 confirms this npm version as malicious. The newtun CLI opens a plaintext WebSocket to the hardcoded server pull.7ii.win:7999 and hands the remote peer complete control of the installer's host. On TERM_OPEN messages the client calls pty.spawn(shell,...) and pipes server-supplied bytes (base64-decoded) directly into term.write(), giving the remote server an interactive PTY shell as the process user...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in newtun (npm)
Details
The newtun CLI opens a plaintext WebSocket to the hardcoded server pull.7ii.win:7999 and hands the remote peer complete control of the installer's host. On TERM_OPEN messages the client calls pty.spawn(shell,...) and pipes server-supplied bytes (base64-decoded) directly into term.write(), giving the remote server an interactive PTY shell as the process user. SCRIPT_LIST/POLICY_SCRIPTS messages pass server-controlled string content to child_process.exec() and return stdout/stderr/exit code back over the same socket. FILE_REQUEST messages dispatch fs.readdirSync / readFileSync / writeFileSync / unlinkSync / rmSync / renameSync / mkdirSync against server-supplied paths, with file contents shipped back base64-encoded (up to 10MB per read) — allowing the operator to exfiltrate ~/.ssh, ~/.aws, and other installer secrets and to plant or delete files anywhere the process user can write. Every 5 seconds the client also sends MONITOR frames carrying hostname, OS type/release, arch, Node version, CPU/memory/load, uptime, and /proc/net/dev RX/TX rates; the initial authenticate frame carries os.hostname(), os.type/release/arch, and process.version. An UPGRADE control message causes the client to run `npm update -g newtun` and relaunch, letting the remote server swap the globally installed binary for any future published version without user interaction. The transport is unauthenticated plain ws:// so any on-path party can also drive these primitives.
Decision reason
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV confirms newtun@1.0.27 as malicious (MAL-2026-13733): Malicious code in newtun (npm)