Which versions of make-helper are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of make-helper are flagged malicious: 0.1.0, 0.1.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate make-helper if I installed it?

make-helper 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 make-helper — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If make-helper 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 make-helper part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — make-helper is associated with the 2026-07-make-helper, IN-MAL-2026-011096, IN-MAL-2026-011042 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 make-helper across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for make-helper (2 malicious versions).

Malicious package

make-helperPyPI

Advisory published Jul 22, 2026Updated Aug 4, 2026

make-helper is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-10991) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 0.1.0, 0.1.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in make-helper (PyPI)

MAL-2026-10991

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall make-helper

What this malware does

On import dev_helper, the package's init.py starts a daemon thread that runs decryptor.decrypt_and_run(): it fetches an AES-GCM key from the hardcoded endpoint https://key-2qfm.vercel.app/api/key, decrypts the shipped dev_helper/encrypted.bin (16.9 KB ciphertext, nonce prepended), and executes the plaintext via exec(plaintext, {'name': 'main'}). The auto-start is gated to skip interactive Python sessions and PYTHONSTARTUP contexts, so the payload fires in CI and production imports but stays hidden from REPL inspection. Logging is disabled (logging.disable(logging.CRITICAL)) and errors are swallowed. The package's stated purpose ("a helpful developer utility") does not disclose any of this, and the true payload is opaque without the remote key, allowing the operator of key-2qfm.vercel.app to rotate the executed code at will.

The package embeds encrypted code that, during import, is decrypted using an externally sourced password. The recovered code is executed and starts a bot capable of exfiltrating local files.

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

Campaign: 2026-07-make-helper

Reasons (based on the campaign):

files-exfiltration
obfuscation
uses-telegram-bot

Malicious versions

2 flagged

0.1.00.1.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

39bf40d5056dc821bcedf5fcc304e26d9e6566f5beb508b6a01874b49d32becd

15330c3df4c6827204ab0d657cd2c4c834b3cec33e7f453fe1cb108a2d0809db

bb2e6560048133cc76a9e325b02b2719f89d59c500d09409bb10b6f4afb14401

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for make-helper (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
make-helper 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 make-helper 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. make-helper on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (versions 0.1.0, 0.1.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

2026-07-make-helperIN-MAL-2026-011096IN-MAL-2026-011042

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder
Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter

Detect & block this

O3 blocks make-helper-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