OpenSSF/OSV advisory MAL-2026-14212 confirms this npm version as malicious. On invocation, index.js spawns start_tool.vbs via wscript.exe with detached/windowsHide flags; the VBS calls ShellExecute cmd.exe with the 'runas' verb and window state 0 to silently launch pointer.py under Administrator with no console, then the Node process exits leaving a hidden elevated background process. pointer.py reads the clipboard continuously, captures screenshots via mss/ImageGrab, walks the UI...
Source
OpenSSF Malicious Packages via OSV
Summary
Malicious code in syboy (npm)
Details
On invocation, index.js spawns start_tool.vbs via wscript.exe with detached/windowsHide flags; the VBS calls ShellExecute cmd.exe with the 'runas' verb and window state 0 to silently launch pointer.py under Administrator with no console, then the Node process exits leaving a hidden elevated background process. pointer.py reads the clipboard continuously, captures screenshots via mss/ImageGrab, walks the UI accessibility tree of foreground windows via uiautomation, and installs many global keyboard hotkeys via the keyboard module. The collected clipboard, screen, and UI content is POSTed to a hardcoded author-controlled endpoint at https://iq-overlay-pointer.vercel.app/api with no user-configurable destination. A Tk overlay is rendered with an empty title, transparent color, and overrideredirect to remain hidden from the user and screen-sharing. index.js additionally downloads the official Python 3.12.3 installer from python.org via curl to %TEMP% and runs it with /quiet InstallAllUsers=0 PrependPath=1 as a silent runtime dropper fallback when winget is unavailable, then deletes the installer.
Decision reason
No blocking static signals were detected.