Which versions of lightning are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of lightning are flagged malicious: 2.6.2, 2.6.3. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate lightning if I installed it?

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

If lightning 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 lightning part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — lightning is associated with the 2026-04-compr-lightning 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 lightning 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 lightning (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging lightning across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

lightningPyPI

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

MAL-2026-3201

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall lightning

What this malware does

Versions 2.6.2, 2.6.3 were compromised.

Compromised versions contain injected code that starts automatically during importing the module, downloads (legitimate) JavaScript runtime, and executes included JavaScript infostealer. It collects credentials from multiple sources (e.g. files, process memory, cloud metadata endpoints, CLI commands like gh or gcloud), sensitive cryptocurrency data, shell history files. It also attempts to spread itself using discovered credentials to other repositories and packages.

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

Campaign: 2026-04-compr-lightning

Reasons (based on the campaign):

infostealer
files-exfiltration
exfiltration-ssh-keys
exfiltration-crypto
exfiltration-credentials
compromised-package

Malicious versions

2 flagged

2.6.22.6.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

703ac419d775488be137d7e01517d768da0b5581ab63338fb9523f2289f2b92c

21d1958db35f91cdd9e4daf8466ded080429f05ef2f989a858bef41af4d220b1

ed90aeeb51f0c9480d8f0590f5c035de65bd67722be97987087abbca61e5a21f

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 lightning (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging lightning across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
lightning 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 lightning 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 lightning 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. lightning on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (versions 2.6.2, 2.6.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2026-04-compr-lightning

References

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · analyst

Detect & block this

O3 blocks lightning-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