# MAL-2026-17422: Malicious code in shortneer (PyPI)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `shortneer` (PyPI)
- **Published:** 1 Oct 2026

## What is MAL-2026-17422?

MAL-2026-17422 is a malicious package in shortneer, published on 1 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

The package ships a macOS arm64 Rust-compiled Python extension (_core.abi3.so) fronted by a thin wrapper lb.py. The only exposed Python function, shortname(), invokes two gibberish-named native entrypoints (_core.dphjx0rdhx0 and _core.ioluli0x0xthf) and swallows all exceptions with a silent print(''). The native binary embeds the hardcoded path 'Library/Application Support/Telegram Desktop/tdata' (the installer's Telegram Desktop session store on macOS), the archive name 'fghj.zip', and the destination 'https://api.telegram.org', alongside zip, AES, ChaCha20 and reqwest/rustls/hyper HTTP client code. This matches packaging the installer's live Telegram Desktop session directory and uploading it to a Telegram bot controlled by the author, which grants full takeover of the installer's Telegram account. The random-looking native export names and the blanket exception suppression serve to hide the behavior from casual inspection; the package's self-description as an OSINT utility does not match its actual data flow, which targets the installer's own messaging session store rather than any user-supplied target.

When used, the package exfiltrates Chrome extension files (likely targeting cryptocurrency wallets) and sensitive Telegram files.

---

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

Campaign: 2026-09-sherpy

Reasons (based on the campaign):

 - infostealer

 - exfiltration-crypto

 - target:telegram

 - native-extension

## What should I do about MAL-2026-17422?

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-2026-17422 is a malicious package: shortneer (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-2026-17422/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17422/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-17422

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17422/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.