Which versions of chacha-lite-encrypt are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of chacha-lite-encrypt are flagged malicious: 4.2.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate chacha-lite-encrypt if I installed it?

chacha-lite-encrypt 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 chacha-lite-encrypt — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If chacha-lite-encrypt 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 chacha-lite-encrypt part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — chacha-lite-encrypt is associated with the 2026-03-ariadne-federation 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 chacha-lite-encrypt across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chacha-lite-encrypt (version 4.2.0).

Malicious package

chacha-lite-encryptPyPI

Advisory published Mar 16, 2026Updated Mar 16, 2026

chacha-lite-encrypt is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-1482) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 4.2.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in chacha-lite-encrypt (PyPI)

MAL-2026-1482

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall chacha-lite-encrypt

What this malware does

During import, package decrypts and runs a malicious executable. The executable is hidden in an encoded and xored form in the JSON resource file.

This is a follow up of the campaign 2026-03-fastapi-middleware-cors

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

Campaign: 2026-03-ariadne-federation

Reasons (based on the campaign):

malware
obfuscation
dependency-confusion
typosquatting

Malicious versions

1 flagged

4.2.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

705b86da323a21b157504bf4833b60c8aa90a57d6db5111716afe31c114b6c1d

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chacha-lite-encrypt (version 4.2.0).
If you installed it — respond
chacha-lite-encrypt 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 chacha-lite-encrypt 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. chacha-lite-encrypt on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (version 4.2.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2026-03-ariadne-federation

References

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter

Detect & block this

O3 blocks chacha-lite-encrypt-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