MAL-2026-19051: Malicious code in shanks (PyPI)

Published Nov 7, 2026
·
Updated

The module shanks/shanks.py, when imported, looks up the machine's public IP address and location from a geolocation service and posts the IP address, city, state, postal code, latitude and longitude, with an @everyone mention, to a hard-coded Discord webhook. The package describes itself only as "A small example pkg". Version examined: 0.0.4; sdist SHA-256 dc417305d4b083a60ffda7aa310952306258fc12afc536a0641fc4a79c95bed8.

Affected Software

1 affected component
pip/shanks=0.0.4

Event History

Nov 7, 2026
Advisory Published
via OSV·03:16 AM
Data Sourced
via OSV·03:16 AM
DescriptionAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What information is exposed if this package is imported?

The code collects the machine's public IP address and geolocation data: city, state, postal code, latitude, and longitude. It sends this information to a hard-coded Discord webhook and includes an @everyone mention.

2

What action triggers the data exfiltration?

The behavior occurs when the shanks/shanks.py module is imported. Systems that install the package but never import that module are not described as triggering the reported behavior.

3

Which package version and artifact were examined?

The examined version is 0.0.4. The reported source distribution SHA-256 is dc417305d4b083a60ffda7aa310952306258fc12afc536a0641fc4a79c95bed8.

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