CVE-2026-48063: Baileys has message upsert / hist sync spoofing and app state corruption when using maliciously crafted protocolMessage payload

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.2%, percentile 12: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 12% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes baileys (npm) < 6.7.22, fixed in 6.7.22; @whiskeysockets/baileys (npm) < 6.7.22, fixed in 6.7.22; baileys (npm) >= 7.0.0-rc.1, < 7.0.0-rc12, fixed in 7.0.0-rc12; @whiskeysockets/baileys (npm) >= 7.0.0-rc.1, < 7.0.0-rc12, fixed in 7.0.0-rc12. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Baileys is a cocket-based TS/JavaScript API for WhatsApp Web. In versions prior to both 6.7.22 and 7.0.0-rc12, any Baileys session can be sent a malicious payload via the placeholderResendMessage and trigger a fake messages.upsert event with a fake message key and payload. This allows anyone to spoof messages. The same exploit also allows an attacker to corrupt the app state sync system by sending fake key shares, and also allows for history sync spoofing which also serves the same problem, injecting fake previous context or "on-demand" sync. This issue has been fixed in versions 6.7.22 and 7.0.0-rc12.

From the GitHub advisory

Impact Any baileys session under the latest version (

Patches https://github.com/WhiskeySockets/Baileys/commit/3beb08eecfcb4e65722e674034bd84fb11a9de35 This commit has patched the issue, and a version tag has been released under 7.0.0 (6.7.22) for those still on Baileys v6. A new Baileys version, v7.0.0-rc12, has been released to remediate this.

Workarounds There are no real workarounds other than dropping messages.upsert events that contain a requestId field, turning off automatic history sync (shouldSyncHistoryMessage: () => false) in socket config. There are no workarounds for the app state sync jamming.

Weakness type: CWE-290, CWE-345, CWE-346.

Product: baileys (npm) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2026-08-03

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Attack requirements: none
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact partial.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.22% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 12.

Timeline

• 2026-06-10 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-qvv5-jq5g-4cgg published (critical)
• 2026-08-03 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2026-08-04 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-qvv5-jq5g-4cgg github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2026-48063 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2026-48063 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com
2. github.com github.com

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