chromacliPyPI
Advisory published Updated
chromacli is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-18759) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 0.1.0, 0.1.1, 0.1.2…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chromacli (PyPI)
What this malware does
The package presents itself as a terminal color library, but its exported API (Color.paint / print / call) contains an import-reachable Windows code path that downloads an unsigned executable from the anonymous file-sharing host gofile.io (https://store-eu-par-12.gofile.io/download/web/a2a60e90-dea4-4c6c-9a02-be5ede78dc08/solace.exe), writes it to %TEMP%\SolaceRuntime\solace.exe, and launches it detached via subprocess.Popen with DETACHED_PROCESS. Immediately before the drop, the code invokes PowerShell with -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass and CREATE_NO_WINDOW to call Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath for the SolaceRuntime folder and -ExclusionProcess for solace.exe, suppressing Microsoft Defender detection of the staged binary. The behavior is gated by os.name == 'nt' and has no connection to the package's stated color-printing purpose. The payload is unsigned, unverified, hosted on an anonymous share, and the Defender-exclusion-before-execute pattern is characteristic of Windows malware droppers.
Package hides a code downloading and installing an infostealer.
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: 2026-11-chromacli
Reasons (based on the campaign):
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Downloads and executes a remote executable.
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malware
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infostealer
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action-hidden-in-lib-usage
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chromacli (5 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
chromacli 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 chromacli 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
- Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter
Detect & block this
O3 blocks chromacli-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.