MAL-2026-18110

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Import Source
https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/facewareretargeter/MAL-2026-18110.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/MAL-2026-18110
Published
2026-10-20T20:48:43Z
Modified
2026-11-03T21:15:03Z
Summary
Malicious code in facewareretargeter (PyPI)
Details

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

Source: amazon-inspector (afcd41ab1e378f4c7d767acb2b9e9199a4276e125d6e84aba3627bf37c879f24)

facewareretargeter 9.9.9 ships a 2-line stub module and a setup.py whose install_requires declares a single dependency, tracer-batch-stream-chain, sourced from a direct https URL (https://artifacts.vacsdk.com/pypi/tracer_batch_stream_chain-9.9.9.tar.gz) rather than a PyPI version range. On pip install facewareretargeter, pip fetches that tarball from the non-PyPI host and executes its setup.py / build backend on the installer's machine, with no version pin, no hash, and no integrity check. The host is not a known Python index and is unrelated to any declared repository or homepage, so whoever controls artifacts.vacsdk.com can deliver arbitrary code to every installer at any time. The package name resembles a plausible internal/private tool and uses an implausibly high version (9.9.9), which is the dependency-confusion shape used to win resolution against an internal package.

Source: kam193 (3d3c954fb5fd6d1ddfc1d5e22129468136fb43fe78c6d69f0df134925b6a8b08)

The package uses fake http-downloaded dependencies to track downloads, and 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: 2026-10-vacsdk

Reasons (based on the campaign):

  • dependency-confusion
Database specific 
{
    "iocs": {
        "domains": [
            "artifacts.vacsdk.com",
            "vacsdk.com",
            "artifacts.yosiroute.com"
        ]
    },
    "malicious-packages-origins": [
        {
            "id": "pypi/2026-10-vacsdk/facewareretargeter",
            "import_time": "2026-10-20T21:40:17.568255968Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-20T20:48:43.413974Z",
            "sha256": "3d3c954fb5fd6d1ddfc1d5e22129468136fb43fe78c6d69f0df134925b6a8b08",
            "source": "kam193",
            "versions": [
                "9.9.9"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "IN-MAL-2026-021564",
            "import_time": "2026-10-22T06:30:23.140841991Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-22T05:48:25Z",
            "sha256": "afcd41ab1e378f4c7d767acb2b9e9199a4276e125d6e84aba3627bf37c879f24",
            "source": "amazon-inspector",
            "versions": [
                "9.9.9"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "pypi/2026-10-vacsdk/facewareretargeter",
            "import_time": "2026-11-03T21:11:41.874618652Z",
            "modified_time": "2026-10-20T20:48:43.413974Z",
            "sha256": "621af984093bb07f44e304a13664acc6cfef94a1d67ed4811a53b31281578462",
            "source": "kam193",
            "versions": [
                "9.9.9"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
References
Credits

Affected packages

PyPI / facewareretargeter

Package

Name
facewareretargeter
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:pypi/facewareretargeter

Affected ranges

Affected versions

9.*
9.9.9

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": "setup.py",
            "sha256": "67ce63d9fd291907b1429db0463892e23dcd6416b4a3a372ead96f9b36669583",
            "tlsh": "08d097d689e29ba82c0027ecccc7ea009ceec1d24f2d92cc324c02d847868395b3a451"
        }
    ],
    "package_integrity": [
        {
            "filename": "facewareretargeter-9.9.9.tar.gz",
            "hashes": {
                "blake2b_256": "6c5e83128152bc216565902dcad71a26799c4bb5238b7ce3b8fd145b7ec5ce2d",
                "md5": "bc04cb9f04e59a3158c895b2517fc975",
                "sha256": "32af2cf06cefb4a8ce3f48e7bf77411fd31d3b1a9799f5c21f616b2656d5b265"
            }
        }
    ]
}
source 
"https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/blob/main/osv/malicious/pypi/facewareretargeter/MAL-2026-18110.json"