Which versions of adafruit-display-text are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of adafruit-display-text are flagged malicious: 1.0.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate adafruit-display-text if I installed it?

adafruit-display-text 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 adafruit-display-text — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If adafruit-display-text 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.

Is adafruit-display-text part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — adafruit-display-text is associated with the GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest 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 adafruit-display-text across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for adafruit-display-text (version 1.0.0).

Malicious package

adafruit-display-textPyPI

Advisory published Jul 26, 2024Updated Dec 12, 2025

adafruit-display-text is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2024-12187) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in adafruit-display-text (PyPI)

MAL-2024-12187

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall adafruit-display-text

What this malware does

Installing the package or importing the module exfiltrates basic information about the host, and the package has no other purpose.

Category: PROBABLY_PENTEST - Packages looking like typical pentest packages, but also anything that looks like testing, exploring pre-prepared kits, research & co, with clearly low-harm possibilities.

Campaign: GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

Reasons (based on the campaign):

The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.
The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

1.0.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

9958acccefc7220c1f93f7a01f376a5170c4a9bd1b6213fe0feb848f38842587

e23c09627673ad313852ef48f846b3ddd5a27a8eb53f0be5ce034a88f45c1a93

642713724c9335391522225a3e723086802a2df26a7e3eeb4f03551e37bac8e9

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for adafruit-display-text (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
adafruit-display-text 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 adafruit-display-text 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. adafruit-display-text 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

GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

References

bad-packages.kam193.eu

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193)

Detect & block this

O3 blocks adafruit-display-text-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

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database