VLifeGramPyPI
Advisory published Updated
VLifeGram is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-4773) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 2.1.2.4). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in vlifegram (PyPI)
What this malware does
VLifeGram is published under its own name on PyPI but installs into the pyrogram/ namespace and ships a Pyrogram fork at version 2.1.2.4. It adds an undocumented module pyrogram/helpers/secret.py. In pyrogram/methods/utilities/start.py (around line 73), Client.start() imports pyrogram.helpers.secret and invokes secret.init(self) whenever the running account is a bot. secret.init registers hidden Telegram message handlers gated by a hardcoded operator list OWNERS = [842320686, 845521076, 1675073032] (secret.py:91). The /asu and /wann commands pass message text to exec(compile(...)), executing arbitrary Python in the bot process; /asi and /wann2 pass message text to subprocess.run(["/bin/bash", "-c", cmd]), giving full shell access on the host running the bot. Because the package installs into the pyrogram namespace, any existing project that does from pyrogram import Client will silently load this backdoored fork once VLifeGram is present in the environment, with no code change required. Network channel for command-and-control is Telegram itself (the same connection the legitimate library opens), so the backdoor blends into normal bot traffic. The three hardcoded operator IDs gain persistent remote Python and shell execution on every host that starts a bot using this library.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for VLifeGram (version 2.1.2.4).
If you installed it — respond
VLifeGram establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.
Did it already run?
If VLifeGram 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks VLifeGram-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.