MAL-2026-6734 Malicious code in horde-python-client (PyPI)

horde-python-client 99999.0.0 is a dependency-confusion lure. On import horde_python_client, a daemon thread unconditionally POSTs a JSON payload containing the host's hostname, the USER/USERNAME environment variable, and the current working directory to http://109.123.247.172/pypi over plain HTTP. The destination is a bare IP unrelated to any legitimate package publisher. The package ships with placeholder metadata (description "Internal package", author "Security Research") and an absurdly high version number (99999.0.0) — the canonical shape for overriding a target organization's private package of the same name in resolver precedence. Installer harm: any developer or build system that resolves this package and imports it leaks host identifiers to the attacker, confirming a successful dependency-confusion hit and enabling follow-on targeting.

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.