Which versions of instal are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of instal are flagged malicious: 1.3.5. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate instal if I installed it?

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

If instal was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.

Is instal part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — instal is associated with the GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest 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 instal across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for instal (version 1.3.5). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging instal across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

instalPyPI

Malicious code in instal (PyPI) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

MAL-2026-4195

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall instal

What this malware does

Installing the package or importing the module exfiltrates basic information about the host, and the package has no other purpose.

Category: PROBABLY_PENTEST - Packages looking like typical pentest packages, but also anything that looks like testing, exploring pre-prepared kits, research & co, with clearly low-harm possibilities.

Campaign: GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

Reasons (based on the campaign):

The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.
The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'instal' @ 1.3.5 (pypi) as malicious.

It is considered malicious because:

The package communicates with a domain associated with malicious activity.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

1.3.5

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

4563e8e641a6f28c65cfedaf9af2b00744113c440f071f5f22ea78f0484bf763

988f86dc0694b7d27a640809cef5d04ed431a36bb02bb02e69e20724a20db2b9

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for instal (version 1.3.5). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging instal across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
instal 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 instal was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.
How O3 protects you
O3 blocks instal before install through its supply-chain scanner, and if it has already run, detects and severs the exfiltration or C2 callback at runtime through L7 egress monitoring and eBPF.

Frequently asked questions

No. instal on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (version 1.3.5 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

GENERIC-standard-pypi-install-pentest

References

bad-packages.kam193.eu

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter
OpenSSF: Package Analysis · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks instal-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