---
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'
---

## Overview


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

## Source: amazon-inspector (19e3eadaccc63a1e12d0e3cfe153cbf78e114f30285d4da3694990827e5f5c5a)
The 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.

## Source: kam193 (bd36aeb2d45881a66bf5373c0b91a108637938dab5e0c153525e6f938c9c9503)
A 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.


---

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


Campaign: 2026-09-web3-eth-account


Reasons (based on the campaign):


 - typosquatting


 - clones-real-package


 - c2-in-blockchain


 - Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.


## Affected packages

- `web3-eth-account`

## Remediation

Refer to the advisory for the patched release.