Which versions of qowa are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of qowa are flagged malicious: 0.1.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate qowa if I installed it?

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

If qowa 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 qowa part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — qowa is associated with the 2026-10-qowa 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 qowa across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for qowa (version 0.1.0).

Malicious package

qowaPyPI

Advisory published Oct 23, 2026Updated Oct 23, 2026

qowa is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-18218) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.1.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in qowa (PyPI)

MAL-2026-18218

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall qowa

What this malware does

The package provides a C2 server and agent with pre-filed credentials, disguised as a generic utility.

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

Campaign: 2026-10-qowa

Reasons (based on the campaign):

rat
spyware-like
target:android
The package contains code to execute remote commands (probably limited to a specific set) on the victim's machine.
uses-telegram-bot
files-exfiltration

Malicious versions

1 flagged

0.1.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

67fe6a2b86c60720a8e3cc1002c183bd751ec1896d3be13a44b5ce7d1623afbd

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

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

Campaign

2026-10-qowa

References

bad-packages.kam193.eu

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter

Detect & block this

O3 blocks qowa-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