MAL-2026-18124 Malicious code in journey-test-helloshell (PyPI)

setup.py registers a custom install command (cmdclass install hook) and also fires at module import that connects to the hardcoded bare-IP endpoint 137.131.233.62:8080 and bridges a /bin/bash -i subprocess over the socket, giving the operator interactive shell access on the installer's host. Before opening the shell, the code POSTs host identifiers (hostname, uid, JCX_ENVIRONMENT) over plaintext HTTP to http://137.131.233.62:443/shell-beacon. The install hook double-forks, calls setsid, redirects stdio to /dev/null, and enters an infinite reconnect loop with a 60-second sleep, persisting the backdoor beyond the pip install process. A /tmp/.jcx_channel.done guard file is used to coordinate the channel. Destination is a bare IP unrelated to any publisher domain.

In specific environments, package starts a reverse shell during installation.

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

Campaign: 2026-10-journey-test-helloshell

Reasons (based on the campaign):

• The package contains code to create a reverse shell, allowing an attacker to execute any commands on the victim's machine.

• The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

• targetted-attack