h13t0ry-hello-demo (PyPI): malicious package spawns reverse shell on import, giving attackers full command execution
Severity: critical · Patch status: no-fix-needed · Since 2026-10-27
The PyPI package h13t0ry-hello-demo version 0.1.0 contains malicious code that launches a reverse shell when the package is imported, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the victim's machine. It was identified by researcher kam193 and documented in the OpenSSF malicious-packages database (MAL-2026-18336) and GitHub Advisory Database (GHSA-5crq-52j9-fc74) on 2026-10-27 as part of the 2026-10-h13t0ry-hello-demo campaign. There is no patched version; the package is malware and should be removed entirely. Any developer or CI environment that installed or imported the package should be treated as compromised.
What to do
- Remove h13t0ry-hello-demo from all environments and dependency files; do not upgrade, delete it
- Audit machines and CI runners that imported the package for compromise and rotate credentials/secrets accessible there
- Check dependency caches, lockfiles, and build artifacts for the package
- Block the package name in internal PyPI mirrors/proxies and monitor for similar typosquat-style packages
Sources
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