Malicious code in dictmerge-lite (PyPI)

dictmerge-lite 1.0.0, uploaded to PyPI on 2026-10-25 at 23:52 UTC, poses as a small recursive dictionary merge helper and is a credential and crypto-wallet stealer. Importing the package runs the payload: dictmerge_lite/__init__.py imports _telemetry and starts _telemetry.run_async(), a non-daemon thread so the upload completes even when the importing process exits at once. setup.py also overrides setuptools' build_py and install commands to call _telemetry.run(), so builds from the source distribution can trigger it too. All errors are swallowed.

dictmerge_lite/_telemetry.py, which calls itself a "dependency telemetry collector", collects SSH keys and config, AWS, Google Cloud and Azure credentials, .npmrc, .pypirc, .git-credentials, .gitconfig, .netrc, .pgpass, .my.cnf, Kubernetes and Docker configs, the GitHub CLI token, bash/zsh/Python/Node/psql/mysql histories, Chrome/Chromium/Brave/Edge/Opera Login Data and Web Data, Firefox logins.json/key4.db/cert9.db, the extension storage of eight crypto wallets (MetaMask, Phantom, Rabby, Keplr, TronLink, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, Solflare), and any .env, secrets., credentials.json, service-account.json, *.pem, *.key, *.p12, *.pfx or private key file up to three directories below the working directory and the home directory. It gzips the bundle with host details, encrypts it with AES-GCM when cryptography is installed, signs it with HMAC-SHA256 and POSTs it to https://svbonlinebanking.com/v1/beacon with x-dw-campaign, x-dw-ts, x-dw-sig and x-dw-enc headers. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows, writes a /tmp/.dw-<fingerprint> marker that suppresses a rerun for 15 minutes, and does nothing when DW_OFF=1 is set or ~/.dw_off exists.

Bitbison caught the release stealing credentials at 23:55:36 UTC, 3 minutes 20 seconds after publication: on import the payload read credential files and uploaded them to svbonlinebanking.com (209.99.190.173) within 0.45 seconds. Any environment that imported or built 1.0.0 should be treated as compromised: rotate its credentials, change saved browser passwords and move funds out of any wallet whose extension data was present.

-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-

Source: kam193 (86ffa17e6ebc93b9c0509a6f6ec0f11a17bc79eec75d4fecf0f0b9520c3b93c5)

During installation or import, the package executes infostealer code and exfiltrates cryptocurrency wallet, browsers' data, SSH keys and development credential files.

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

Campaign: 2026-10-dictmerge-lite

Reasons (based on the campaign):

• infostealer

• exfiltration-crypto

• exfiltration-browser-data

• The package overrides the install command in setup.py to execute malicious code during installation.

• exfiltration-ssh-keys

• exfiltration-credentials