codeoptimizerPyPI
Advisory published Updated
codeoptimizer is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2025-3440) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 4.1.1, 4.2.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in codeoptimizer (PyPI)
What this malware does
On importing the module, there is an automated start of a Telegram bot capable of exfiltrating passwords from browsers, executing arbitrary commands and so on. While the description states it's a monitoring tool, the automated start, capabilities targeting secret values suggest malicious intentions.
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: 2025-03-yolov8mini
Reasons (based on the campaign):
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infostealer
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exfiltration-generic
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dependency-confusion
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exfiltration-browser-data
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The package contains code to execute remote commands (probably limited to a specific set) on the victim's machine.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for codeoptimizer (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
codeoptimizer 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 codeoptimizer 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
- Kamil Mańkowski (kam193)
- ReversingLabs · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks codeoptimizer-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.