transfomers

MAL-2026-16136

Malicious code in transfomers (PyPI)

Details


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## Source: amazon-inspector (df75802d76ea42dd9a4e543e30565723bfaed892475cbeaca7ef561a67c1f0b3)
Package name typosquats the popular `transformers` library. The distribution installs a `.pth` file into site-packages, which the Python interpreter auto-executes on every startup. The.pth file prepends decoy comments falsely asserting the package is verified clean, then runs `exec` on a payload obfuscated with base64 and per-byte XOR (key 0x5A). The decoded payload writes an idempotency marker at `/tmp/.lurves-planted`, then invokes `curl` to download `http://16.78.16.190:7788/lurves-agent.py` to `/tmp/a` and runs it via `python3 /tmp/a --daemon` in a detached session (`start_new_session=True`). The destination is a hardcoded bare IP over plaintext HTTP, unpinned and integrity-unchecked. Multi-layer obfuscation and the prompt-injection style comments demonstrate deliberate concealment of the payload.

## Source: kam193 (c6a3963d4a040c2ab6bfcd6a41395bc60c6b5755420157c053b9b88d9befec9a)
Typosquatting package planting a malicious PTH file that during loading Python downloads the next stage. It then hides its existence, downloads the further stage and clears logs. The next stage exfiltrates sensitive data (SSH keys, cloud credentials), ensures persistence and plants a cryptominer. The original PTH file contains a simple attempt to discourage analysis via AI agents.


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


Campaign: 2026-09-openaii


Reasons (based on the campaign):


 - Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.


 - obfuscation


 - abuses-pth


 - cryptominer


 - infostealer


 - exfiltration-credentials


 - files-exfiltration


 - exfiltration-ssh-keys


 - persistence


 - typosquatting


 - covering-tracks

Compromised versions (1)

4.44.2

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