Malicious code in admine (PyPI)
The PyPI package 'admine' contained malicious code as part of a campaign by EsqueleSquad group that published nearly 6000 malicious packages across PyPI and NPM. The package executed spyware and information-stealing malware.
- Disclosed
- Last updated
- Blast radius
- Potentially thousands of installations; part of a large-scale malicious package campaign affecting both PyPI and NPM ecosystems.
- Ecosystems
- Attack vectors
- Threat actor
- Affected entities
- adminePyPI package containing malicious code
The PyPI package 'admine' was identified as containing malicious code. This package was part of a large-scale coordinated campaign by the EsqueleSquad group, which published approximately 6000 malicious packages across both PyPI and NPM ecosystems.
The malicious code in affected packages was designed to execute spyware and information-stealing malware on compromised systems. The incident was documented and tracked by the OpenSSF's malicious-packages repository under identifier MAL-2023-2491.
This represents a significant supply chain attack affecting multiple package ecosystems simultaneously, with the potential to compromise any system that installed the affected packages.
Indicators of compromise
- Packages
- admine
Remediation
- Immediately identify and remove the 'admine' package from all environments
- Audit systems that may have installed this package for signs of compromise, including unauthorized data exfiltration or spyware activity
- Review and revoke any credentials or sensitive data that may have been exposed
- Monitor for indicators of compromise related to information-stealing malware
- Check for other malicious packages from the EsqueleSquad campaign and remove them
- Implement package verification and scanning in your dependency management workflow
Sources
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-qhmc-5ph5-79qq · GitHub Advisory Database
Cite this entry
"Malicious code in admine (PyPI)." supplychainattack.org, Supply Chain Attack Incident Catalog. Disclosed July 21, 2026; last updated July 21, 2026. https://supplychainattack.org/incident/malicious-code-in-admine-pypi-0rjy7i
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