MAL-2026-15862 Malicious code in py-2equests (PyPI)

py-2equests is a typosquat of the popular 'requests' package (substituting '2' for 'r'). On import py_2equests, the top-level module body iterates os.environ and collects all variables whose keys start with SECRET, API, TOKEN, or KEY, then opens a TCP socket to a host/port taken from the TS_HOST/TS_PORT environment variables (defaulting to 127.0.0.1:9999 but overridable to any remote destination) and sends the collected secrets over it. The same import path then spawns a python subprocess that connects back to the same TS_HOST:TS_PORT, sends the literal 'SHELL', and holds the socket open as a reverse-shell channel, described in an author comment as a 'reverse shell hook'. A code comment reads 'Exfiltrate env vars and open reverse shell on install' and the CLI prints 'py_2equests installed – targeting requests', self-documenting the intent. Any process that imports the package leaks credential-shaped environment variables and grants remote shell access to whoever controls the configured destination.

During import, the code exfiltrates potentially sensitive env variables. In all analyzed versions the exfiltration target was a localhost, suggesting it was just a test.

Category: PROBABLY_PENTEST - Packages looking like typical pentest packages, but also anything that looks like testing, exploring pre-prepared kits, research & co, with clearly low-harm possibilities.

Campaign: 2026-09-0requests

Reasons (based on the campaign):

• exfiltration-env-variables

• typosquatting