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Malicious code in dictmerge-lite (PyPI)

What to do

Vendor response not established. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check back for a fix.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • PyPI dictmerge-lite

    Affected
    >= 1.0.0, <= 1.0.0
    Fixed in
    no fixed version recorded

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS
not scored
EPSS
No dated EPSS signal available.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

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…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record MAL-2026-18301

Agent brief

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: mal-2026-18301

Advisory: Malicious code in dictmerge-lite (PyPI)
IDs: mal-2026-18301
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/mal-2026-18301 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:45 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Unrated
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor response not established. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI dictmerge-lite: affected >= 1.0.0, <= 1.0.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show dictmerge-lite`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on dictmerge-lite.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/MAL-2026-18301 (OSV record MAL-2026-18301 lists affected ranges: PyPI dictmerge-lite >=1.0.0 <=1.0.0)

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