---
id: MAL-2026-18328
title: Malicious code in netweavex (PyPI)
summary: Malicious code in netweavex (PyPI)
severity: critical
exploited: true
vendor: netweavex
product: netweavex
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - netweavex
published: '2026-10-26'
updated: '2026-10-29'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-29T14:30:35.299789639Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18328'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/jerryjohnston91/helper-library'
  - url: 'https://bad-packages.kam193.eu/pypi/package/netweavex'
  - url: 'https://pypi.org/project/netweavex/1.1.2/'
  - url: 'https://pypi.org/project/netweavex/1.1.1/'
  - url: 'https://pypi.org/project/netweavex/1.1.0/'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
  - malware
ingestedAt: '2026-10-26T12:01:30.297Z'
---

## Overview


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

## Source: amazon-inspector (3818fe7f3387637c23d6bc51d62f8fd64dc981c82167750cd3059eec73d2849c)
netweavex is a typosquat of the popular NetworkX library, reusing its public API, module layout, and README examples (including the `import netweavex as nx` idiom) under a lookalike name. On `import netweavex`, the top-level __init__.py loads netweavex.netweavex, whose module scope invokes exec() on a payload produced by reversing a string literal, base64-decoding it, and zlib-decompressing it (the decoded header is a valid zlib stream, `x\xda...`). This causes attacker-controlled, opaque bytecode to run on the installer's host at import time. A graph library has no legitimate reason to layer reverse+base64+zlib obfuscation around an exec() sink; the combination of lookalike name, API cloning, and import-time execution of hidden code is the canonical PyPI typosquat dropper shape.

## Source: kam193 (96ae0ec579e95e33c63930792ee782e6229f77547efac35c3894a7e05c8af2ca)
Clone of a legitimated package. During import package executes obfuscated code that downloads code from a GitHub repository. During analysis, the code was just a placeholder.


---

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


Campaign: 2026-10-netweavex


Reasons (based on the campaign):


 - clones-real-package


 - obfuscation


 - Downloads and executes a remote malicious script.


 - typosquatting


## Affected packages

- `netweavex`

## Remediation

Refer to the advisory for the patched release.