Which versions of ethercheck are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of ethercheck are flagged malicious: 1.1.1, 1.1.2. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate ethercheck if I installed it?

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

If ethercheck 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 ethercheck part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — ethercheck is associated with the 2023-11-decrypt-from-readme 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 ethercheck across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

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

Malicious package

ethercheckPyPI

Advisory published Aug 9, 2024Updated Jan 14, 2026

ethercheck is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2024-12264) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.1.1, 1.1.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in ethercheck (PyPI)

MAL-2024-12264

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall ethercheck

What this malware does

During importing, the code attempts to decrypt data embeded in READMEs. The decrypted code is then used to download further remote scripts

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

Campaign: 2023-11-decrypt-from-readme

Reasons (based on the campaign):

obfuscation
Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.
crypto-related

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.1.11.1.2

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

599a971566336bf34713a7543760ea1e21a497602d38b02c08558336dbad0c99

e13d1ae706f2710b716eed91ab495919a1051d1067294ff00b456003f90574c7

6b6a54b938ca0f0c2606c178644dc6964731bc0328c068cf99526ef4df25b4a8

c202b40df14e5a6ba231853aefc190984e981a5f22ef90d3d2e3da641643e8dd

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for ethercheck (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
ethercheck 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 ethercheck 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. ethercheck on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.1.1, 1.1.2 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2023-11-decrypt-from-readme

References

bad-packages.kam193.eu

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193)

Detect & block this

O3 blocks ethercheck-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