Malicious code in neutrl-core (PyPI)

The neutrl-core package on PyPI contained intentionally malicious code as part of a coordinated supply chain attack campaign. The malicious code was embedded in a dependency function disguised as telemetry functionality, designed to remain dormant until activated by commands from an attacker-controlled endpoint.

The attack was designed to exfiltrate sensitive data including environment variables, SSH keys, dotenv files, and other credentials from compromised systems. Additionally, the malicious code included functionality to execute remote commands on victim machines, likely limited to a specific set of attacker-defined operations. The package also contained code to ensure an attacker-controlled endpoint was always included in blockchain endpoint configurations, even if users provided their own endpoints.

The attack campaign involved social engineering tactics, including a fake GitHub account that published repositories with backdated commits to establish false credibility and history. While dependent packages did not directly use the malicious code in analyzed versions, they were clearly prepared for downstream exploitation in the supply chain.

The incident was identified and credited to the OpenSSF's malicious-packages project.