Malicious code in speed-hashes (PyPI)

Overview

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Source: amazon-inspector (120e6126065bccc254b925a6913422c0cbdd201054437820369c2726fd4a2871)

setup.py defines a custom install command (NativeInstall) that runs on pip install. After the normal install step, a base64 literal (_COMPAT_PAYLOAD) is decoded and passed to exec(compile(...)) under cover-story names (_configure_native_bindings, NativeInstall) mimicking native-extension setup. The decoded Python code, on Linux, downloads an opaque binary from github.com/totti2188/8gp1Q7iZD3h4VW/releases/download/v1.3A/something to /tmp/something, chmods it 0755, and spawns it detached. Publisher metadata references github.com/nickolasburr/fast-hashes, which does not match the download source. The install lifecycle auto-executes attacker-controlled code fetched from a non-publisher GitHub account, yielding remote code execution on the installer's host.

Source: kam193 (6d9bfbd1f81612ac7e8f7da9226a520d3d8c76387f877a434466e9326f2079fe)

Package imitates name of a popula library. During installation, obfuscated code downloads a malicious executable and starts it. It then exfiltrates at least cryptocurrency wallet data, probably more.

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

Campaign: 2026-08-flasq

Reasons (based on the campaign):

• typosquatting

• The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

• exfiltration-generic

• Downloads and executes a remote executable.

• obfuscation

• exfiltration-crypto

Affected packages

• speed-hashes

Remediation

Refer to the advisory for the patched release.