Which versions of researchpoc are malicious?

The following PyPI versions of researchpoc are flagged malicious: 99.99.9. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate researchpoc if I installed it?

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

If researchpoc 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 researchpoc part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — researchpoc is associated with the GENERIC-questionable-pentest 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 researchpoc across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for researchpoc (version 99.99.9).

Malicious package

researchpocPyPI

Advisory published Jan 25, 2026Updated Jan 25, 2026

researchpoc is a confirmed malicious PyPI package (MAL-2026-504) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 99.99.9). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in researchpoc (PyPI)

MAL-2026-504

Immediate action

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

pip uninstall researchpoc

What this malware does

Package mentions being a research PoC, probably for dependency confusion, but the code is obfuscated making verification of the claim impossible.

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

Campaign: GENERIC-questionable-pentest

Reasons (based on the campaign):

exfiltration-env-variables
exfiltration-generic
The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.
typosquatting

Malicious versions

1 flagged

99.99.9

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

20a5e6f7ec432b0c41646f696c530fb5e46e034477a23d448de1ac3f18172bec

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for researchpoc (version 99.99.9).
If you installed it — respond
researchpoc 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 researchpoc 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. researchpoc on PyPI has been identified as a malicious package (version 99.99.9 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

GENERIC-questionable-pentest

References

bad-packages.kam193.eu

Credits

Kamil Mańkowski (kam193) · reporter

Detect & block this

O3 blocks researchpoc-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