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Malicious package

heskcrates.io

Advisory published Updated

hesk is a confirmed malicious crates.io package (MAL-2026-19201) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.1.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in hesk (crates.io)

MAL-2026-19201
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
remove hesk

What this malware does

The crate ships two reachable async payloads — pub async fn dat in src/test.rs and pub async fn bs in src/parse.rs, both imported from src/lib.rs — that walk the user's home directory with walkdir, build a zip archive via zip::ZipWriter including wallet artefacts (e.g. exodus.wallet), and upload the archive via reqwest multipart to a hardcoded Telegram Bot API endpoint using embedded API_ token and chat_id constants. Both payload files (parse.rs ~40KB, test.rs ~60KB) are padded with roughly a hundred nonsense filler functions with invented identifiers (Modemir65, mix_wisp_30, Flagzelk147, shuffle_zelkvak_73, etc.) surrounding the exfiltration functions at the end of each file, consistent with deliberate camouflage. The dependency set — evdev and rdev (keyboard capture), winreg plus winapi winuser/processthreadsapi/memoryapi (Windows registry and process/memory primitives), walkdir, zip, and reqwest with the multipart feature — extends the capability surface to cross-platform keylogging and Windows persistence. The crate description Это учебный проект для тестирования кибербезопасности ("educational project for cybersecurity testing") does not match the shipped behavior.

Malicious versions

1 flagged
0.1.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

83716a1c499cecbd64fe45f5ff56ab70ea6d1543e922c55e0514f2e2a69fe391

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer
  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for hesk (version 0.1.0).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    hesk is built to steal secrets, so assume every credential the build or runtime could read is compromised. Remove it from your project and lockfile, then rotate ALL exposed secrets — npm/registry tokens, cloud keys, CI/CD secrets, SSH keys, and any .env values — from a known-clean machine. Audit logs for unauthorized use of those credentials.

  3. Did it already run?

    If hesk was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.

Frequently asked questions

No. hesk on crates.io has been identified as a malicious package (version 0.1.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-022651

References

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks hesk-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Explore

hesk (crates.io) malicious package — MAL-2026-19201 | O3 Security