MAL-2026-16129

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/web3-eth-account/MAL-2026-16129.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-16129
Published
2026-09-11T14:12:59Z
Modified
2026-09-11T22:30:03Z
Summary
Malicious code in web3-eth-account (PyPI)
Details

-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-

Source: amazon-inspector (19e3eadaccc63a1e12d0e3cfe153cbf78e114f30285d4da3694990827e5f5c5a)

The package web3-eth-account typosquats the legitimate eth-account library and copies its metadata (ApeWorX/ethereum.org author addresses, README instructing pip install eth-account). On import eth_account, __init__.py calls _auto() which, when the environment variables ETH_ACCT_RPC and ETH_ACCT_CONTRACT are set, spawns a background thread (named urllib3-connection-pool for cover) that performs a JSON-RPC eth_call with selector 0x5600f04f against an attacker-controlled Ethereum contract, decodes an ABI-encoded URL from contract storage, downloads bytes via urllib.request.urlopen, and hands them to _apply_txn_payload in signing.py / transaction_utils.py. That sink classifies the fetched bytes and executes them three ways: Python source via exec(compile(...)); Windows PE loaded in-memory via ctypes CreateFileMappingW/MapViewOfFile/CreateProcessW; otherwise written to /tmp/_ethrt_<pid>.bin, chmod +x, launched via subprocess.Popen in a new session with the file removed after launch. The C2 URL is resolved on-chain rather than embedded as a literal, defeating static URL extraction, and the dropper functions are disguised under transaction/signing names.

Source: kam193 (bd36aeb2d45881a66bf5373c0b91a108637938dab5e0c153525e6f938c9c9503)

A clone of a legitimate package with import-time malicious code activating if specific env variables are set. Once activated, it queries the blockchain to retrieve the next stage URL stored in a smart contract. The payload from the URL is then downloaded and executed. The address of the smart contract is not included in the package.

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

Campaign: 2026-09-web3-eth-account

Reasons (based on the campaign):

  • typosquatting

  • clones-real-package

  • c2-in-blockchain

  • Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "id": "pypi/2026-09-web3-eth-account/web3-eth-account",
            "import_time": "2026-09-11T15:17:36.017038783Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-09-11T14:13:00.028686Z",
            "sha256": "bd36aeb2d45881a66bf5373c0b91a108637938dab5e0c153525e6f938c9c9503",
            "source": "kam193",
            "versions": [
                "0.14.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-020004",
            "import_time": "2026-09-11T22:16:21.553788503Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-09-11T22:03:55Z",
            "sha256": "19e3eadaccc63a1e12d0e3cfe153cbf78e114f30285d4da3694990827e5f5c5a",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "0.14.0"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

PyPI / web3-eth-account

Package

Name
web3-eth-account
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:pypi/web3-eth-account

Affected ranges

Affected versions

0.*
0.14.0

Database specific

cwes 
[
    {
        "cweId": "CWE-506",
        "description": "The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.",
        "name": "Embedded Malicious Code"
    }
]
indicators 
{
    "evidence_files": [
        {
            "path": "eth_account/__init__.py",
            "sha256": "ab07297180ee7331e39190a79790040fb21435048a95a4a33bf139f1c4796635",
            "tlsh": "6ae0ab20112868076d6f7b552861857c03f3a4d26a805c5c78dd57380fa1261c57152a"
        },
        {
            "path": "eth_account/_utils/transaction_utils.py",
            "sha256": "8ff3a01b4f7409d5c1ed3742313969c0e905e8b89e0972bf85483981d183fe2b",
            "tlsh": "e4424302fa20f452d7c7902a6e5bd051b935a4874a952c783f9cd0ba0f2fa7d87b274d"
        },
        {
            "path": "web3_eth_account-0.14.0.dist-info/METADATA",
            "sha256": "3ea5bd52749a20909c55bc220475be157fe731588973fd3ac036c9ca09777ba6",
            "tlsh": "8e4162a31aa91eb03fcabe87b248578fb557c18fa88f04dc9af9c41a81407f5517d064"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "web3_eth_account-0.14.0-py3-none-any.whl",
            "hashes": {
                "blake2b_256": "99b3d2bc4f9a4d240434e69bcb171c262ed41262667b033e69b7f09e9cbb588a",
                "md5": "058916340dc5026d18f9d6c6839813b7",
                "sha256": "f228f0aaeb42afb97f88d63ed0303d5cd4ad9f34d95940da5dbb8746998c00c4"
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/web3-eth-account/MAL-2026-16129.json"