PyPI: Malicious packages onsokets, badgertask, brookworker, cobbleload published with file-exfiltration and remote-loader code (no CVE)
Severity: critical · Patch status: no-fix-needed · Since 2026-10-23
On 2026-10-23 GitHub's Advisory Database, crediting OpenSSF's malicious-packages project and researcher kam193, published malware advisories for four PyPI packages, all at version 0.1.0: onsokets (campaign 2026-10-proxyrubika), which contains automated file-exfiltration code targeting Android, and badgertask, brookworker, and cobbleload (campaign 2026-10-voice-synthesis-profiles), a coordinated set of loader packages that download and execute remote scripts from attacker-controlled URLs. No patched versions exist; the packages are outright malware (CWE-506). Anyone who installed any of these packages is exposed to file theft or arbitrary remote code execution. Removal of the packages and incident response are required; there is no vendor fix.
What to do
- Search dependency locks, environments, and CI for onsokets, badgertask, brookworker, or cobbleload and remove them immediately
- If any package was installed, treat the host as compromised: rotate credentials, inspect for exfiltrated files, and rebuild affected machines and containers
- Block these package names in internal PyPI mirrors/proxies and alert on any historical download attempts
- Audit other recently published low-reputation PyPI dependencies, especially typosquat-like names, and pin to verified packages
- Enable dependency scanning (e.g., GitHub Advisory/OSSF malware feeds) in CI to catch future malicious-package advisories
Sources
All live incidents on Threat Watch
