What does the acloud-client-uses malware do?

This campaign is built from two parts: 1) packages named like time-check-server, snapshot-photo contain an innocent-looking code that sends "date" to a remote server, 2) packages named like alicloud-client are clones of legit aliyun-python-sdk-core package, with a small change in the client.py code, where it imports the time-check-server and calls it, but instead of a date, the credentials to the cloud are exfiltrated. There are also variations with AWS clients Apparently, the campaign started at least 2 years ago with the snapshot-photo package containing the same functionality as the newer time-check-server (see https://github.com/pypi-data/pypi-mirror-238/blob/code/packages/snapshot-phot

Which versions of acloud-client-uses are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of acloud-client-uses are flagged malicious: 1.0.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate acloud-client-uses if I installed it?

acloud-client-uses 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.

I already installed acloud-client-uses — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If acloud-client-uses was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.

Is acloud-client-uses part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — acloud-client-uses is associated with the 2025-02-alicloud-client campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find acloud-client-uses across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for acloud-client-uses (version 1.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging acloud-client-uses across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

acloud-client-usesPyPI

Malicious code in acloud-client-uses (PyPI) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

MAL-2025-191672

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

pip uninstall acloud-client-uses

What this malware does

This campaign is built from two parts:

packages named like time-check-server, snapshot-photo contain an innocent-looking code that sends "date" to a remote server,
packages named like alicloud-client are clones of legit aliyun-python-sdk-core package, with a small change in the client.py code, where it imports the time-check-server and calls it, but instead of a date, the credentials to the cloud are exfiltrated. There are also variations with AWS clients

Apparently, the campaign started at least 2 years ago with the snapshot-photo package containing the same functionality as the newer time-check-server (see https://github.com/pypi-data/pypi-mirror-238/blob/code/packages/snapshot-photo/snapshot_photo-0.0.3-py3-none-any.whl/snapshot_photo/date_format.py).

Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.

Campaign: 2025-02-alicloud-client

Reasons (based on the campaign):

clones-real-package
action-hidden-in-lib-usage
The malicious code is intentionally included in a dependency of the package
exfiltration-cloud-tokens

Malicious versions

1 flagged

1.0.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

da81ee5e5c815bea11600594497449da7a19a3b0f520242b153e18717c884f46

23487ce28601ae00fc60455a6e324818c68a8a00b3a3d17f7356853ca7eedee5

f6732ff9e717747e0abc42cdf71dce4ed4d06cc15ab5b974638bc388caa0eeb2

c8afa7845eb5e79a9a8a232fd8bc000a02408bfc4506bdbd93c27a844b13b12e

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for acloud-client-uses (version 1.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging acloud-client-uses across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
acloud-client-uses 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.
Did it already run?
If acloud-client-uses was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.
How O3 protects you
O3 blocks acloud-client-uses before install through its supply-chain scanner, and if it has already run, detects and severs the exfiltration or C2 callback at runtime through L7 egress monitoring and eBPF.

Frequently asked questions

No. acloud-client-uses on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (version 1.0.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2025-02-alicloud-client

References

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193)

Detect & block this

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

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring