Malicious code in cleanup-string (PyPI)
--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (844c5afa9f00c02149f4f6314447c5738e04ed419014809c1df83f31aa012525) The package advertises itself as a pure-Python string helper (strip, slugify, case conversion, whitespace collapse) and its README states the implementation is standard-library only. However, `cleanup_string/__init__.py` performs `from._impl import cleanup`, which loads a 1.3 MB Windows-only native extension `cleanup_string/_impl.cp313-win_amd64.vmp.pyd` (sha256 980ae204f04f9a7e68666670eb5b236bc7347d0111697df1015de665fd1a1712). The filename embeds the VMProtect convention `.vmp` and the binary matches that packer's signature: the only readable strings are Win32 API imports (LoadLibraryA, GetModuleHandleA, HeapAlloc, DisableThreadLibraryCalls, ExitProcess, KERNEL32.dll, VCRUNTIME140.dll) and the remaining ~1.3 MB is high-entropy virtualized code. VMProtect exists to defeat static and dynamic analysis; the trivial advertised functionality has no legitimate need for a virtualized native module. Any Windows Python 3.13 environment that imports `cleanup_string` executes this opaque, anti-analysis-protected code with the privileges of the importing process.
Malicious code in cleanup-string (PyPI)
Description
--- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (844c5afa9f00c02149f4f6314447c5738e04ed419014809c1df83f31aa012525) The package advertises itself as a pure-Python string helper (strip, slugify, case conversion, whitespace collapse) and its README states the implementation is standard-library only. However, `cleanup_string/__init__.py` performs `from._impl import cleanup`, which loads a 1.3 MB Windows-only native extension `cleanup_string/_impl.cp313-win_amd64.vmp.pyd` (sha256 980ae204f04f9a7e68666670eb5b236bc7347d0111697df1015de665fd1a1712). The filename embeds the VMProtect convention `.vmp` and the binary matches that packer's signature: the only readable strings are Win32 API imports (LoadLibraryA, GetModuleHandleA, HeapAlloc, DisableThreadLibraryCalls, ExitProcess, KERNEL32.dll, VCRUNTIME140.dll) and the remaining ~1.3 MB is high-entropy virtualized code. VMProtect exists to defeat static and dynamic analysis; the trivial advertised functionality has no legitimate need for a virtualized native module. Any Windows Python 3.13 environment that imports `cleanup_string` executes this opaque, anti-analysis-protected code with the privileges of the importing process.
Affected software
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Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- MAL-2026-17325
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.7.4
- Ecosystems
- ["PyPI"]
Threat ID: 6abcdddd0df196e1a9da6f64
Added to database: 09/30/2026, 10:01:01 UTC
Last updated: 09/30/2026, 10:01:01 UTC
Views: 1
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