An attacker purchased the expired domain associated with the original maintainer's email for $5, used PyPI's password reset flow to take over the account, and replaced all versions with code that exfiltrated environment variables (including AWS keys) to a Heroku endpoint. Roughly 27,000 malicious downloads occurred, collecting ~1,000 sets of environment variables.
PACKAGE_STALE_RELEASE + SOURCE_SINGLE_CONTRIBUTOR flagged as abandoned before takeover; PACKAGE_ACTIVE_MALWARE at install
| Tool | Verdict | Details |
|---|---|---|
| OSS Risk Guard | Caught | PACKAGE_STALE_RELEASE + SOURCE_SINGLE_CONTRIBUTOR flagged as abandoned before takeover; PACKAGE_ACTIVE_MALWARE at install |
| Socket | Caught | Behavioral analysis detects exfiltration |
| Snyk | Missed | No malware detection |
| Sonatype (Nexus) | Missed | Weak PyPI/RubyGems coverage for dormant packages |
| Black Duck | Missed | No malware detection |
| Endor Labs | Missed | No malware detection |