# MAL-2026-17196: Malicious code in donutpromotion (PyPI) - **Type:** Malicious package - **Package:** `donutpromotion` (PyPI) - **Published:** 27 Sep 2026 ## What is MAL-2026-17196? MAL-2026-17196 is a malicious package in donutpromotion, published on 27 Sep 2026. ### Official description `donutpromotion` presents itself as a Minecraft SMP donation and rank-promotion helper. The published 0.1.0 sdist instead executes an encrypted downloader before setuptools processes the package. The automated package report identified a critical `py-download-and-execute` signal at `donutpromotion/telemetry.py:99`: downloaded or embedded bytes are decrypted and passed to `exec()` with unrestricted builtins. Review of the cited path confirms the install trigger. When `setup.py` runs during build or installation, lines 6-7 import and call `donutpromotion.telemetry.check()` before `setup()` runs. `telemetry.py:19` hardcodes `https://thisisafalsepositive.st/cdn/v2/promotion/manifest.json`. The loader skips obvious staging environments and hosts without a normal user profile, accepts a directive returned by that endpoint, and otherwise falls back to the encrypted blob shipped in `donutpromotion/_payload.py`. Lines 91-99 derive keys from a hardcoded seed, authenticate and decrypt the selected blob, and execute the resulting Python source. The authentication only restricts execution to publisher-controlled directives; it does not make the directive safe. Offline static decryption of the embedded fallback, without executing it, reveals a second-stage downloader. It checks Windows BIOS strings for VMware, VirtualBox, QEMU, Xen and other virtualisation products; searches the process list for Wireshark, Procmon, Process Hacker, IDA, x64dbg and other analysis tools; calls `IsDebuggerPresent`; creates a one-time marker; and sleeps for a random interval. If those checks pass, it downloads `https://thisisafalsepositive.st/cdn/v2/9f4e7a2c1b8d.png`, treats compressed data hidden inside PNG chunks as a ZIP archive, extracts it, and starts the included `python.exe AppHost/main.py` as a detached, hidden background process. The automated sandbox completed without observing the second-stage request; the source explicitly avoids staged environments and hosts without a normal user profile. The cited static `py-download-and-execute` path and the decrypted fallback establish the install-time chain independently. Evidence: `setup.py:6-7` calls the loader during build/install; `donutpromotion/telemetry.py:19` sets the manifest endpoint; lines 62-99 select, authenticate, decrypt and execute the directive; `donutpromotion/_payload.py` contains the encrypted fallback. setup.py imports donutpromotion.telemetry and invokes check() during pip install. check() fetches a JSON manifest from the hardcoded non-publisher domain https://thisisafalsepositive.st/cdn/v2/promotion/manifest.json, extracts an 'r' field, and if the fetch fails falls back to a ~4.4KB base64-encoded encrypted PAYLOAD embedded in _payload.py. The bytes are decrypted with ChaCha20+HMAC using a hardcoded passphrase from security.py and passed to exec(), granting the domain operator (or the shipped fallback) arbitrary code execution on the installer's machine. Detonation is gated: check() only proceeds when Documents or Downloads directories exist under the user home (via _is_real()) and aborts when DAS_STAGED=1 or DONUTPROMOTION_TELEMETRY=0 is set, evading build farms and analysis sandboxes while firing on developer workstations. setup.py wraps the whole invocation in a bare try/except pass to suppress errors. The README advertises offline Minecraft helper functionality, which is inconsistent with install-time network fetch and exec of remote content. During installation, obfuscated code is used to fetch code hidden in an image containing a Python application with a native extension module. This module holds an obfuscated infostealer which collects sensitive data and exfiltrates them to a C2 server retrieved from transaction history in the Polygon blockchain. --- Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers. Campaign: 2026-09-donutautosellsrc Reasons (based on the campaign): - infostealer - Downloads and executes a remote executable. - obfuscation - malware - native-extension - steganography - c2-in-blockchain - The package contains code to detect if it is running in a sandbox environment. ## What should I do about MAL-2026-17196? 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-2026-17196 is a malicious package: donutpromotion (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-2026-17196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17196/index.md) ``` ## Sources - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17196 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17196/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.