{"id":"MAL-2026-16129","title":"Malicious code in web3-eth-account (PyPI)","summary":"Malicious code in web3-eth-account (PyPI)","severity":"critical","exploited":true,"vendor":"web3-eth-account","product":"web3-eth-account","ecosystem":"pip","affected":["web3-eth-account"],"published":"2026-09-11","updated":"2026-09-11","sourceUpdated":"2026-09-11T22:30:03.748844222Z","source":"OSV","sourceUrl":"https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-16129","references":[{"url":"https://bad-packages.kam193.eu/pypi/package/web3-eth-account"},{"url":"https://pypi.org/project/web3-eth-account/0.14.0/"}],"tags":["osv","pip","malware"],"ingestedAt":"2026-09-12T03:13:01.742Z","slug":"MAL-2026-16129","body":"## Overview\n\n\n---\n_-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_\n\n## Source: amazon-inspector (19e3eadaccc63a1e12d0e3cfe153cbf78e114f30285d4da3694990827e5f5c5a)\nThe 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.\n\n## Source: kam193 (bd36aeb2d45881a66bf5373c0b91a108637938dab5e0c153525e6f938c9c9503)\nA 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.\n\n\n---\n\nCategory: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.\n\n\nCampaign: 2026-09-web3-eth-account\n\n\nReasons (based on the campaign):\n\n\n - typosquatting\n\n\n - clones-real-package\n\n\n - c2-in-blockchain\n\n\n - Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.\n\n\n## Affected packages\n\n- `web3-eth-account`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the advisory for the patched release.","depth":"abyssal","depthScore":70,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":52.3,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":18,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}