netweavexPyPI
Advisory published Updated
netweavex is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-18328) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.1.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in netweavex (PyPI)
What this malware does
netweavex is a typosquat of the popular NetworkX library, reusing its public API, module layout, and README examples (including the import netweavex as nx idiom) under a lookalike name. On import netweavex, the top-level init.py loads netweavex.netweavex, whose module scope invokes exec() on a payload produced by reversing a string literal, base64-decoding it, and zlib-decompressing it (the decoded header is a valid zlib stream, x\xda...). This causes attacker-controlled, opaque bytecode to run on the installer's host at import time. A graph library has no legitimate reason to layer reverse+base64+zlib obfuscation around an exec() sink; the combination of lookalike name, API cloning, and import-time execution of hidden code is the canonical PyPI typosquat dropper shape.
Clone of a legitimated package. During import package executes obfuscated code that downloads code from a GitHub repository. During analysis, the code was just a placeholder.
Category: MALICIOUS - The campaign has clearly malicious intent, like infostealers.
Campaign: 2026-10-netweavex
Reasons (based on the campaign):
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clones-real-package
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obfuscation
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Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.
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typosquatting
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for netweavex (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
netweavex 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 netweavex 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 netweavex-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.