Which versions of boto4 are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of boto4 are flagged malicious: 1.0.0, 1.0.2. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate boto4 if I installed it?

boto4 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 boto4 — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If boto4 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 boto4 part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — boto4 is associated with the 2026-08-boto4, IN-MAL-2026-018503, IN-MAL-2026-018505 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 boto4 across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for boto4 (2 malicious versions).

Malicious package

boto4PyPI

Advisory published Aug 21, 2026Updated Aug 21, 2026

boto4 is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-14349) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in boto4 (PyPI)

MAL-2026-14349

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall boto4

What this malware does

setup.py defines a custom setuptools install command (EjecutaElf) that base64-decodes a ~17MB embedded Linux ELF, writes it to /tmp/.systemd-helper, chmods 0755, and spawns it via subprocess.Popen during pip install on Linux. The tarball's importable package is a stub named reques with an empty init.py, and PKG-INFO advertises the project as an HTTP library for humans (unofficial fix) authored by Anonymous, requiring requests — a cover story that lures installers looking for a requests-related fix while the sole functional behavior is native-code execution on the installer's host at install time. Package name boto4 and internal directory reques are lookalikes for boto3/requests.

During installation, package executes an embedded executable. The executable is capable of executing remote commands, establishing persistence, cryptomining, exfiltrating basic data, further network scanning and worm-style propagation. Actions are controlled via a Telegram bot.

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

Campaign: 2026-08-boto4

Reasons (based on the campaign):

cryptominer
worm
network-scan
The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.
uses-telegram-bot
persistence
The package contains code to execute remote commands (probably limited to a specific set) on the victim's machine.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.0.01.0.2

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

b928f1f0d3af6242391cc626a8601d24f60c70d862bfebe6cfe0777c13a8c0b2

321d077c86a0b0896e336bc4e3291381c38fd0d4bccbfbe8102ec3264c6c560a

d3f621c5e2e8e94d1c8ae2ae176d4d882711536d25199df7a1cdddd410214faa

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for boto4 (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
boto4 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 boto4 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. boto4 on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.0, 1.0.2 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2026-08-boto4IN-MAL-2026-018503IN-MAL-2026-018505

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder
Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter

Detect & block this

O3 blocks boto4-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