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supplychainattack.orgSupply chain attack incident catalog
resolvedcritical

Malicious code in adcpu (PyPI)

The PyPI package adcpu contained malicious code that executed spyware and information-stealing malware. It was part of a campaign by EsqueleSquad group that published nearly 6,000 malicious PyPI and NPM packages.

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Disclosed
Last updated
Blast radius
Potentially thousands of installations; part of a large-scale malicious package campaign
Ecosystems
PyPI
Attack vectors
Compromised package
Affected entities
  • adcpuPyPI package containing malicious code

The PyPI package adcpu was identified as containing malicious code designed to execute spyware and information-stealing malware. This package was part of a large-scale coordinated campaign by the EsqueleSquad group.\n\nThe EsqueleSquad group published nearly 6,000 malicious packages across PyPI and NPM ecosystems as part of this campaign. The malicious adcpu package was documented in the OpenSSF's malicious-packages repository (MAL-2023-2479).\n\nThe incident was identified and documented by Checkmarx and credited to the OpenSSF's malicious packages tracking effort. Users who installed adcpu from PyPI during the period it was available would have been exposed to the malicious payload.

Indicators of compromise

Packages
  • adcpu

Remediation

  • Remove adcpu from all environments and dependencies
  • Audit systems that may have installed adcpu for signs of compromise (spyware, data exfiltration)
  • Review and rotate any credentials or sensitive data that may have been exposed
  • Monitor for suspicious network activity or unauthorized access
  • Update to a verified, legitimate version if adcpu functionality is required from an alternative source

Sources

  1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-wgwf-2gwf-898q · GitHub Advisory Database

Cite this entry

"Malicious code in adcpu (PyPI)." supplychainattack.org, Supply Chain Attack Incident Catalog. Disclosed July 21, 2026; last updated July 21, 2026. https://supplychainattack.org/incident/malicious-code-in-adcpu-pypi-wb7qbg

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