Which versions of cytokine are malicious?

The following RubyGems versions of cytokine are flagged malicious: 22.55.2. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate cytokine if I installed it?

Remove cytokine from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.

I already installed cytokine — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If cytokine 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 cytokine part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — cytokine is associated with the RLMA-2024-05656, RLUA-2024-10175, RLUA-2026-07954 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 cytokine across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for cytokine (version 22.55.2).

Malicious package

cytokineRubyGems

Advisory published Jun 25, 2024Updated Sep 24, 2026

cytokine is a confirmed malicious RubyGems package (MAL-2024-6850) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 22.55.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in cytokine (RubyGems)

MAL-2024-6850

Immediate action

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

gem uninstall cytokine

Malicious versions

1 flagged

22.55.2

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

3c97c72c2892a9e0715e78c3314ceef82efd41f3e1bdc58f198ba6618d390e85

83a1e483e9a46c92ce9d6d3af65a896743e1773f79e8fed6553aba67ab2a2f6a

0acdf124a38c080ab04cb6a1b2441fe11cf2c0b3af2efdad58b4f3160eda1dc4

Detection & response playbook

Malicious package

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for cytokine (version 22.55.2).
If you installed it — respond
Remove cytokine from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If cytokine 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. cytokine on RubyGems has been identified as a malicious package (version 22.55.2 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

RLMA-2024-05656RLUA-2024-10175RLUA-2026-07954

References

github.com

Credits

ReversingLabs · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks cytokine-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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