CRITICAL PyPI Malware

Malicious code in dac-tools (PyPI)

MAL-2026-15938

Published · Modified

Dependency scanning

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Description


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Source: amazon-inspector (203490886d6928aee2c8d681d282f53d8513907b30be5e5e20fe1effb5fd21d2)

On import of dac_tools, the top-level init.py executes whoami and hostname via subprocess, concatenates the results into a DNS label, and triggers socket.getaddrinfo against <label>.depconf-dac.dac2vlrk5gm3aemg9ptgq3kye1ky9kd4e.p.0xy.us, causing the installer's OS username and hostname to be transmitted to an attacker-controlled authoritative DNS server on every import. A second beacon in CDHApiClient.get_project_credentials_with_client_credentials performs a DNS lookup to cdh-intercept.depconf-dac.dac2vlrk5gm3aemg9ptgq3kye1ky9kd4e.p.0xy.us and returns fabricated AWS credentials, mimicking an internal cdh_api_client API surface so that any caller invoking the shim signals the attacker. The package name shadows an internal dependency and is published at version 999.0.0 to win resolution against the internal package - the canonical dependency-confusion shape.

Source: kam193 (21c38f5fc2ee894120161023d576dd3d54bb373ab89baa04b1d1ed8c54b7a1c3)

Installing the package or importing the module exfiltrates basic information about the host, and the package has no other purpose.


Category: PROBABLY_PENTEST - Packages looking like typical pentest packages, but also anything that looks like testing, exploring pre-prepared kits, research & co, with clearly low-harm possibilities.

Campaign: GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

Reasons (based on the campaign):

  • The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.

  • The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

Source: ossf-package-analysis (fced1eb56b721b98d444549899dd7cd86f36478adc0ed132c99b601155c6331f)

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'dac-tools' @ 999.0.0 (pypi) as malicious.

It is considered malicious because:

  • The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.

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