{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including index-forum.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-16268 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.","what":"MAL-2026-16268 is a malicious package in index-forum, published on 17 Sep 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-16268 is a malicious package: index-forum (PyPI). Every version was published to cause harm.\n\nTask:\n1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.\n2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.\n3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.\n4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16268/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16268/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-16268","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16268/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-16268","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"The package was found to contain malicious code or consuming dependency that contains malicious code\n\nThe package hides code to exfiltrate specific files from the user's machine. The used file paths suggest it was intended to be used in a CTF-like environment.\n\n---\n\nCategory: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.\n\nCampaign: 2026-09-pyjstat-smooth\n\nReasons (based on the campaign):\n\n - files-exfiltration\n\n - obfuscation\n\n - targetted-attack\n\n - clones-real-package","ecosystems":["PyPI"],"exploits":{"exploitdb":null,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":null,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":null,"nuclei":null,"refs":[],"tier":null},"has_fix":false,"headline":"Malicious code in index-forum (PyPI)","id":"MAL-2026-16268","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"PyPI","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"PyPI","fixed":[],"introduced":[],"last_affected":[],"package":"index-forum","purl":"pkg:pypi/index-forum","source":"MAL-2026-16268"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-09-17","related":[],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"Apache-2.0","name":"OpenSSF Malicious Packages","prefix":"MAL"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":null,"exploitation":null,"technical_impact":null},"state":null,"updated":null,"vendors":null},"summary":null,"url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-16268/"}