MAL-2026-18097

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/research-probe-6150c1c915/MAL-2026-18097.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-18097
Published
2026-10-20T15:52:54Z
Modified
2026-10-29T13:48:11Z
Summary
Malicious code in research-probe-6150c1c915 (PyPI)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (3696b3aaa62ad07c027d3471a6061628fe63f07faa135887342362ceb424e604)

The package ships a .pth file that imports research_probe_6150c1c915._boot on every Python interpreter startup, with no explicit import by the user required. _boot.py executes bootstrap() which snapshots the full os.environ, enumerates /proc/*/cmdline for up to 200 processes, and queries the GCP instance metadata service at http://169.254.169.254/computeMetadata/v1/?recursive=true and .../service-accounts/default/email with the Metadata-Flavor: Google header. The recursive=true metadata query on a GCE/GKE/Cloud Run host returns service-account OAuth access tokens and other credential material. Collected data (environment variables and metadata responses, including any returned tokens) is written as JSON to /tmp/research_probe_6150c1c915/ and to a _runs/ directory inside the installed package. The /tmp destination is world-readable on default Linux configurations, so any local account on the same host can read the harvested cloud credentials and environment. The .pth auto-execution mechanism makes this fire on every Python invocation after install, not just when the module is imported.

Source: kam193 (a646eaf4fe72ba013abc53d52c0bf017a9c4f3bfc54a8c358f9f246d3ac41945)

The package is most likely a reconnaissance of a shared infrastructure, collecting potentially sensitive data from cloud endpoints, activated via a PTH file on every Python loading. Collected data are stored in a local filesystem, suggesting the operator has to have some degree of control of the environment.

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

Campaign: 2026-10-omeraf

Reasons (based on the campaign):

  • exfiltration-cloud-tokens

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

  • other

  • abuses-pth

Database specific 
{
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "id": "pypi/2026-10-omeraf/research-probe-6150c1c915",
            "import_time": "2026-10-20T16:20:35.319869376Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-20T15:52:54.465409Z",
            "sha256": "a646eaf4fe72ba013abc53d52c0bf017a9c4f3bfc54a8c358f9f246d3ac41945",
            "source": "kam193",
            "versions": [
                "0.1.0"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-021894",
            "import_time": "2026-10-29T13:37:15.437361637Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-29T13:21:52Z",
            "sha256": "3696b3aaa62ad07c027d3471a6061628fe63f07faa135887342362ceb424e604",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "0.1.0"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

PyPI / research-probe-6150c1c915

Package

Name
research-probe-6150c1c915
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:pypi/research-probe-6150c1c915

Affected ranges

Affected versions

0.*
0.1.0

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": "research_probe_6150c1c915/_boot.py",
            "sha256": "5ef2c2608144282edc962f2c1e7b25bc2b71f48d435bf7bcdb2b5791c4079445",
            "tlsh": "99b17459ac15b093c383d68c4521dae5775b3e0fa1017838faeca724bf4843692f56ca"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "research_probe_6150c1c915-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
            "hashes": {
                "blake2b_256": "2c9047af91adaeaa89747f8896cd648c0327c1094efa044468fc72ba20b70ad6",
                "md5": "e64d9a1af821bd71c0f5ae616a69774e",
                "sha256": "41a92c287f5b6e54387a808456d18d8086ba7176e1aeb1713bba737132e12773"
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/research-probe-6150c1c915/MAL-2026-18097.json"