---
id: MAL-2026-18094
title: Malicious code in pafex (PyPI)
summary: Malicious code in pafex (PyPI)
severity: critical
exploited: true
vendor: pafex
product: pafex
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - pafex
published: '2026-10-20'
updated: '2026-10-20'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-20T14:30:03.767936616Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18094'
references:
  - url: 'https://bad-packages.kam193.eu/pypi/package/pafex'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
  - malware
ingestedAt: '2026-10-21T11:54:42.739Z'
---

## Overview


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

## Source: kam193 (8ad1f51a6f081ac9e46b3d3ffa2d0b9b150b1600caf826d940f4e3d1992cda16)
In this campaign, the main package (resion) has an embeded pickle disguised as a config. A related dependency (pafex) contains code to load the pickle. During unpickling, malicious code embeded in the pickle file is automatically executed. It then establishes persistence via a PTH file and downloads the next stage payload. During analysis, the final remote payload was just a stub


---

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


Campaign: 2026-10-webreader


Reasons (based on the campaign):


 - files-exfiltration


 - obfuscation


 - The malicious code is intentionally included in a dependency of the package


 - Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.


 - The package contains code to execute remote commands (probably limited to a specific set) on the victim's machine.


 - rat


 - persistence


 - abuses-pth


## Affected packages

- `pafex`

## Remediation

Refer to the advisory for the patched release.