index-forumPyPI
Advisory published Updated
index-forum is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-16268) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 2.5.4). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in index-forum (PyPI)
What this malware does
The package was found to contain malicious code or consuming dependency that contains malicious code
The package hides code to exfiltrate specific files from the user's machine. The used file paths suggest it was intended to be used in a CTF-like environment.
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: 2026-09-pyjstat-smooth
Reasons (based on the campaign):
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files-exfiltration
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obfuscation
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targetted-attack
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clones-real-package
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for index-forum (version 2.5.4).
If you installed it — respond
index-forum 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 index-forum 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 index-forum-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.