MAL-2026-504 Malicious code in researchpoc (PyPI)
Malicious package
Published
MAL-2026-504 is a malicious package: researchpoc (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-2026-504/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-504/index.md)
- Package
- researchpoc
- Registry
- PyPI
What is MAL-2026-504?
MAL-2026-504 is a malicious package in researchpoc, published on 25 Jan 2026.
Official description
Package mentions being a research PoC, probably for dependency confusion, but the code is obfuscated making verification of the claim impossible.
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: GENERIC-questionable-pentest
Reasons (based on the campaign):
exfiltration-env-variables
exfiltration-generic
The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.
typosquatting
What should I do about MAL-2026-504?
Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.