metrioPyPI
Advisory published Updated
metrio is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-17193) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 999.0.0, 1000.0.0, 1001.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in metrio (PyPI)
What this malware does
metrio 999.0.0 executes a hostname-exfiltration beacon from both setup.py (install time) and metrio/init.py (import time). The code reads the local machine's hostname, hex-encodes it, and embeds it as a subdomain of the attacker-controlled domain 84avt3516s4q1obsv9q0mh4u2l8dw3ks.x9.to, then triggers a DNS resolution via socket.gethostbyname and a plain-HTTP GET via urllib.request.urlopen against that host. The version number 999.0.0 and the self-described 'dependency-confusion PoC placeholder' summary are the canonical high-version dependency-confusion shape: the package is intended to win resolution against an internal package of the same name and beacon the resolving host back to the operator. Installer harm on pip install metrio or import metrio is disclosure of the installer's hostname to a third-party collector, and confirmation to the operator that this internal name resolves to the public index from the installer's build environment.
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):
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The package contains code to exfiltrate basic data from the system, like IP or username. It has a limited risk.
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The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for metrio (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
metrio 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 metrio 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 metrio-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.