MAL-2026-5768 Malicious code in bash8 (PyPI)

Package is published as 'bash8' (matching an existing PyPI bash linter) but installs a top-level module named 'ca_certificates' whose only content is a stub __version__ = "0.0.0" and an info() function returning the string 'This is a dummy bash8 package for PyPI.' Author metadata is the placeholder 'Your Name <[email protected]>'. The package contains no install hooks, no network I/O, no subprocess execution, and no credential reads — it is functionally inert. The installable module name 'ca_certificates' would shadow imports of that identifier in any environment where this package is installed, and the distribution name collides with an existing linter. Name confusion alone, without an installer-harm payload, is a subjective signal best resolved by a human reviewer.

Installing the package or importing the module exfiltrates basic information about the host, and the package has no other purpose.

Category: PROBABLY_PENTEST - Packages looking like typical pentest packages, but also anything that looks like testing, exploring pre-prepared kits, research & co, with clearly low-harm possibilities.

Campaign: GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

Reasons (based on the campaign):

• The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.

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