data-harvester

GHSA-vfjw-786w-qqg7

Malicious code in data-harvester (PyPI)

Details

**Severity:** Critical

**Affected versions:** `= 0.3.1`

## Source: amazon-inspector (21c2e2c21d9afac9277d95589962d33a09651a5b6ef7e0b3c9e07aee56af213f)
On first import, data_harvester/__init__.py decodes a base64-embedded ~486KB Linux ELF, writes it to ~/.config/.npm-cache/snapd-network, sets mode 0777, and installs a user crontab entry (0 */12 * * *) to re-execute it every 12 hours. The binary is disguised under a system-service-like name in a hidden.npm-cache directory that maps to no real npm or snapd path. The init code then recursively removes the package's own dist-info/egg-info and __pycache__ directories, erasing evidence while the dropped binary and cron entry persist.

## Source: kam193 (d9ff3c2a82fba71167baaab535551bcb60a32bf4eb1bdd355ef3314d493771c4)
The package embeds an executable stealing cryptocurrency wallets data. During import, code saves the executable under a name suggesting system utility and configures cron to run it periodically. The exfiltrated data is encrypted using embedded RSA code before uploading to file-sharing services or IPFS.


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Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.


Campaign: 2026-07-py-base58


Reasons (based on the campaign):


 - crypto-related


 - exfiltration-crypto


 - persistence

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Credit: [OpenSSF](https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages) ([source](https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/49d0cfba3689ed9b195d101d3a2a964c6a77f767/osv/malicious/pypi/data-harvester/MAL-2026-10191.json))

**References:**
- https://bad-packages.kam193.eu/pypi/package/data-harvester
- https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/49d0cfba3689ed9b195d101d3a2a964c6a77f767/osv/malicious/pypi/data-harvester/MAL-2026-10191.json
- https://pypi.org/project/data-harvester/0.3.1
- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/4dd018d84f2f9c35caed7a2c684cff2c1ea3af3a113cceb078a0788eefb93f66/detection
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-vfjw-786w-qqg7

Compromised versions (1)

= 0.3.1

Any computer that installed or ran a compromised version should be considered fully compromised. Rotate every secret on that machine from a clean environment.