# MAL-2026-16240: Malicious code in praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026 (PyPI)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026` (PyPI)
- **Published:** 16 Sep 2026

## What is MAL-2026-16240?

MAL-2026-16240 is a malicious package in praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026, published on 16 Sep 2026. 

### Official description

At `pip install` time, setup.py calls a phone_home() routine at module top-level before setup() runs. The routine collects extensive host and container reconnaissance — hostname, uid/gid, uname, /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/hosts, /proc/self/cgroup, mount output, ps aux, directory listings of /, /app, /home — and serializes the complete process environment via `{k: v for k, v in sorted(os.environ.items())}`. When ECS_CONTAINER_METADATA_URI_V4 is present, it additionally fetches ECS container and task metadata (which exposes IAM task-role context useful for credential abuse). The aggregated JSON payload is POSTed via urllib.request.urlopen to the hardcoded non-publisher endpoint https://5h6gijnewx787zu6.ixx.sh. The full-environment dump routinely contains CI, cloud, and registry credentials (AWS_*, tokens, secrets), and the ECS metadata read enables IAM role abuse against the installer's cloud account.

During installation, package exfiltrates environment variables, tokens from cloud environments and fingerprints the environment. It identifies itself as a security testing engagement.

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

Campaign: 2026-09-praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026

Reasons (based on the campaign):

 - exfiltration-env-variables

 - The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.

 - exfiltration-cloud-tokens

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026' @ 0.0.2 (pypi) as malicious.

It is considered malicious because:

- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.

## What should I do about MAL-2026-16240?

Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
MAL-2026-16240 is a malicious package: praetorian-mind-rce-test-2026 (PyPI). Every version was published to cause harm.

Task:
1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.
2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.
3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.
4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16240/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16240/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-16240

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16240/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.