Researchers have found 11 malicious Python packages which have been installed more than 41,000 times from the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that might be used to obtain Discord access tokens, passwords, and even stage dependency misunderstanding attacks.
These Python packages have now been withdrawn from the repository as a result of JFrog's responsible disclosure —
- important package / important-package
- pptest
- ipboards
- owlmoon
- DiscordSafety
- \trrfab
- 10Cent10 / 10Cent11
- yandex-yt
- yiffparty
Two of the programs ("importantpackage," "10Cent10," and their variants) were discovered to gain a reverse shell upon that compromised system, granting the attacker total control over an affected system. Using a technique known as dependency confusion or namespace confusion, two additional packages, "ipboards" as well as "trrfab" masqueraded as valid dependencies intended to be immediately imported.
Apart from typosquatting attacks, in which a threat actor purposefully discloses packages with misspelled names of popular variants, dependency confusion works by posting poisoned elements with the same names as valid internal private packages, although with a higher version as well as posted online to public repositories, basically forcing the target's package manager to download and install the nefarious module.
The dependency "importantpackage" is particularly notable for its new network-based detection technique, which involves exploiting Fastly's the content delivery network (CDN) to disguise connections with the attacker-controlled server as interactions with pypi[.]org.
The malicious code "causes an HTTPS request to be sent to pypi.python[.]org (which is indistinguishable from a legitimate request to PyPI), which later gets rerouted by the CDN as an HTTP request to the [command-and-control] server," JFrog researchers Andrey Polkovnychenko and Shachar Menashe noted.
Eventually, both "ipboards" and a fifth package known as "pptest" were revealed to use DNS tunneling as a data exfiltration technique, depending on DNS requests as a means of communicating between both the victim PC and the remote server. According to JFrog, this is the first time the approach has been discovered in malware posted to PyPI.
Targeting prominent code registries such as Node Package Manager (NPM) JavaScript registry, PyPI, and RubyGems has become routine, opening up a new arena for a variety of assaults.
"Package managers are a growing and powerful vector for the unintentional installation of malicious code, and […] attackers are getting more sophisticated in their approach," said Menashe, JFrog's senior director of research. "The advanced evasion techniques used in these malware packages, such as novel exfiltration or even DNS tunneling signal a disturbing trend that attackers are becoming stealthier in their attacks on open-source software."
