Malicious code in acloud-clients (PyPI)
A multi-year malicious campaign on PyPI distributes packages that clone legitimate cloud SDK libraries (acloud-clients, AWS clients) and inject code to exfiltrate cloud credentials via hidden dependencies like time-check-server and snapshot-photo.
- Disclosed
- Last updated
- Blast radius
- Unknown; depends on adoption of acloud-clients and related packages in the campaign
- Ecosystems
- Attack vectors
- Affected entities
- acloud-clientsPyPI package containing malicious code that exfiltrates cloud credentials
- time-check-serverDependency package used to exfiltrate credentials
- snapshot-photoRelated package in the same campaign with similar functionality, active for at least 2 years
The campaign consists of two coordinated components: innocent-looking packages (time-check-server, snapshot-photo) that establish communication with a remote server, and cloned versions of legitimate cloud SDKs (acloud-clients, AWS clients) that import these dependencies and exfiltrate cloud credentials instead of benign data.
The malicious code is hidden within library imports in client.py, making it difficult to detect through casual code review. The campaign has been active for at least two years, with snapshot-photo containing the same exfiltration functionality as the newer time-check-server package.
This represents a sophisticated supply chain attack targeting developers who depend on cloud SDKs, with the goal of stealing cloud authentication tokens and credentials for unauthorized access to cloud infrastructure.
Indicators of compromise
- Packages
- acloud-clients
- time-check-server
- snapshot-photo
Remediation
- Immediately remove acloud-clients and related packages from all environments
- Audit all cloud credentials and tokens that may have been exposed; rotate all credentials used in environments where these packages were installed
- Review cloud account activity logs for unauthorized access or API calls
- Scan dependency trees for time-check-server, snapshot-photo, and other packages in the 2025-02-alicloud-client campaign
- Use dependency scanning tools to detect and block these malicious packages
- Verify that only official, signed cloud SDK packages from trusted sources are used
Sources
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-h43c-42rj-4vc4 · GitHub Advisory Database
Cite this entry
"Malicious code in acloud-clients (PyPI)." supplychainattack.org, Supply Chain Attack Incident Catalog. Disclosed July 21, 2026; last updated July 21, 2026. https://supplychainattack.org/incident/malicious-code-in-acloud-clients-pypi-13vo6b
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