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A filing by WhatsApp and Meta alleged that NSO Group developed a new WhatsApp-linked installation vector called Erised after WhatsApp disabled an earlier one and sued the spyware company in October 2019. As reported by CyberScoop on November 15, 2024, the filing said Erised continued using WhatsApp as an installation vector until WhatsApp changes disabled it in May 2020. That is the plaintiffs’ account, not a finding that the court made about Erised. NSO disputed WhatsApp’s description of its role.
What did the filing allege NSO did after the lawsuit?
The account emerged from court materials unsealed in November 2024. CyberScoop reported that WhatsApp and Meta’s filing described a sequence of WhatsApp-linked vectors: Heaven, Eden and Erised. According to that account, WhatsApp detected malicious messages and made changes to disable Eden in May 2019. The filing then said NSO developed Erised, which continued using WhatsApp as an installation vector through at least May 2020, when further WhatsApp changes disabled it.
The timing matters: WhatsApp filed its lawsuit on October 29, 2019, so the alleged Erised activity extended beyond the filing date. The claim is specifically that Erised continued to use WhatsApp as an installation vector—not that the 2024 reporting established every detail of how each target was infected or what information was collected.
How did Heaven, Eden and Erised differ?
- Heaven: TechCrunch’s November 15, 2024 account of unsealed material said this earlier vector was active before 2018.
- Eden: The reported materials associated Eden with the original attack and lawsuit. CyberScoop said WhatsApp detected malicious messages in May 2019 and changed its systems to disable it.
- Erised: The plaintiffs’ filing, as quoted by CyberScoop, described this as the successor vector developed after Eden was disabled. It allegedly continued using WhatsApp as an installation vector until changes made by WhatsApp disabled it in May 2020.
These descriptions come from party filings and contemporaneous reporting about unsealed documents. They should not be read as judicial findings that each vector operated exactly as described.
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What role did the WhatsApp Installation Server play?
The reported court materials described the WhatsApp Installation Server, or WIS, as a modified client or delivery mechanism used in the installation process. That description helps explain what “using WhatsApp as an installation vector” meant in the dispute: the allegation concerned technology that used or interacted with WhatsApp’s platform to help deliver spyware, rather than simply a claim that Pegasus was an ordinary message or attachment.
In its November 12, 2025 permanent injunction, the district court ordered deletion of specified technology that used, accessed or depended on WhatsApp’s platform, including WIS. The injunction also restricted covered parties from developing, using, selling, distributing, transferring or licensing technology that interacted with or emulated any aspect of WhatsApp’s platform—including an installation vector—without WhatsApp’s written permission.
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What did WhatsApp and NSO say about who controlled the system?
WhatsApp’s filing argued that customers played a limited role and that NSO controlled important parts of data retrieval and delivery. NSO’s account was different. CyberScoop quoted NSO vice president of global communications Gil Lanier saying the system was operated solely by clients and that neither NSO nor its employees could access the intelligence gathered by it. Those are opposing party positions; the reporting does not resolve the dispute by itself.
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The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s December 20, 2024 order records that WhatsApp and Meta filed suit on October 29, 2019. The complaint alleged that malware was sent using WhatsApp’s system to approximately 1,400 mobile phones and devices to surveil users. The figure is the number alleged in the complaint as described in the order, not a separate finding in that passage that 1,400 devices were successfully infected.
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The same order says claims under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California’s Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and breach of contract remained operative after the court dismissed a trespass-to-chattels claim. It does not convert the parties’ descriptions of Heaven, Eden or Erised into court findings.
On November 12, 2025, the court granted a permanent injunction. Its restrictions apply to the parties specified in the order and parties acting in concert, subject to the order’s terms. The injunction also addresses data collection, reverse engineering, account creation and deletion of specified code and data. It includes stated exclusions for foreign sovereign customers and outside counsel, so its scope should not be paraphrased as a restriction on every customer or every third party without regard to the order’s definitions and exceptions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is the latest status of the injunction?
On June 8, 2026, WhatsApp said it had disrupted social-engineering attempts that it linked to NSO and was asking the court to hold NSO in contempt of the permanent injunction. That statement establishes that WhatsApp made the allegation and requested enforcement; it does not establish that the court found NSO in contempt. The sources cited here do not establish a later ruling on that request or the injunction’s current appellate status.
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