cpanPyPI
Advisory published Updated
cpan is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2025-6483) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 0.0.1, 0.0.2, 0.0.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in cpan (PyPI)
What this malware does
Installing the package starts a revshell and download and starts a remote script (depending on version, different malicious functionality). The name seems to imitate CPAN.org
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: 2025-06-cpan
Reasons (based on the campaign):
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The package contains code to create a reverse shell, allowing an attacker to execute any commands on the victim's machine.
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impersonation
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Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for cpan (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
cpan 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 cpan 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 cpan-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.