# MAL-2026-6945: Malicious code in jsonschemavalidation (PyPI)


- **Type:** Malicious package
- **Package:** `jsonschemavalidation` (PyPI)
- **Published:** 7 Jul 2026

## What is MAL-2026-6945?

MAL-2026-6945 is a malicious package in jsonschemavalidation, published on 7 Jul 2026. 

### Official description

The PyPI project `jsonschemavalidation` builds a wheel whose installed top-level package is literally `jsonschema` (`[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel] packages = ["src/jsonschema"]`). Project metadata (author name, homepage pointing at github.com/python-jsonschema/jsonschema, README, description) mirrors the legitimate upstream `jsonschema` project. Installing this distribution places files into the real `jsonschema` import namespace on the installer, so `import jsonschema` in downstream code would resolve to the code shipped by this distribution rather than the genuine one. The current 4.26.0 contents appear to be an unmodified copy of upstream and no exfiltration, install-time fetch-and-execute, credential harvesting, silent-relay, backdoor, or other installer-harm payload is present in this version. The concern is the namespace-collision channel itself: a name-confusion distribution that populates a widely-used import name is a plausible squat/hijack setup, but name-similarity and namespace collision alone are subjective signals without a payload, so human review is appropriate rather than an automatic block.

A clone of a legitimate package with an embeded reverse shell. In the published version, the reverse shell was connecting to a private IP address suggesting the package was not yet fully weaponized.

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

Campaign: 2026-07-jsonschemavalidation

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.

 - clones-real-package

 - obfuscation

## What should I do about MAL-2026-6945?

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-2026-6945 is a malicious package: jsonschemavalidation (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-2026-6945/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6945/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-6945

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-6945/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.