The Socket Research team investigates a malicious Python package disguised as a Discord error logger that executes remote commands and exfiltrates data via a covert C2 channel.
On March 21, 2022, a Python package ‘discordpydebug’ was uploaded to the Python Package Index (PyPI) under the name "Discord py error logger." At first glance, it appeared to be a simple utility aimed at developers working on Discord bots using the Discord.py library. However, the package concealed a fully functional remote access trojan (RAT). Over time, the package reached over 11,000 downloads, placing thousands of developer systems at risk.

The package targeted developers who build or maintain Discord bots, typically indie developers, automation engineers, or small teams who might install such tools without extensive scrutiny. Since PyPI doesn’t enforce deep security audits of uploaded packages, attackers often take advantage of this by using misleading descriptions, legitimate-sounding names, or even copying code from popular projects to appear trustworthy. In this case, the goal was to lure unsuspecting developers into installing a backdoor disguised as a debugging aid.

Discord’s developer ecosystem is both massive and tightly knit. With over 200 million monthly active users, more than 25% of whom interact with third-party apps, Discord has rapidly evolved into a platform where developers not only build but also live test, share, and iterate on new ideas directly with their users. Public and private servers dedicated to development topics foster an informal, highly social culture where tips, tools, and code snippets are shared freely and often used with little scrutiny. It’s within these trusted peer-to-peer spaces that threat actors can exploit social engineering tactics, positioning themselves as helpful community members and promoting tools like discordpydebug under the guise of debugging utilities.

The fact that this package was downloaded over 11,000 times, despite having no README or documentation, highlights how quickly trust can be weaponized in these environments. Whether spread via casual recommendation, targeted DMs, or Discord server threads, such packages can gain traction before ever being formally vetted.

Socket's research uncovers three dangerous Go modules that contain obfuscated disk-wiping malware, threatening complete data loss.

The Go ecosystem, valued for its simplicity, transparency, and flexibility, has exploded in popularity. With over 2 million modules available, developers rely heavily on public repositories like GitHub. However, this openness is precisely what attackers exploit.

No Central Gatekeeping: Developers freely source modules directly from GitHub repositories, trusting the naming conventions implicitly.
Prime Target for Typosquatting: Minimal namespace validation enables attackers to masquerade malicious modules as popular libraries.
Introduction: The Silent Threat#
In April 2025, we detected an attack involving three malicious Go modules which employ similar obfuscation techniques:

github[.]com/truthfulpharm/prototransform
github[.]com/blankloggia/go-mcp
github[.]com/steelpoor/tlsproxy
Despite appearing legitimate, these modules contained highly obfuscated code designed to fetch and execute remote payloads. Socket’s scanners flagged the suspicious behaviors, leading us to a deeper investigation.

Socket’s Threat Research Team uncovered malicious Python packages designed to create a tunnel via Gmail. The threat actor’s email is the only potential clue as to their motivation, but once the tunnel is created, the threat actor can exfiltrate data or execute commands that we may not know about through these packages. These seven packages:

Coffin-Codes-Pro
Coffin-Codes-NET2
Coffin-Codes-NET
Coffin-Codes-2022
Coffin2022
Coffin-Grave
cfc-bsb
use Gmail, making these attempts less likely to be flagged by firewalls and endpoint detection systems since SMTP is commonly treated as legitimate traffic.

These packages have since been removed from the Python Package Index (PyPI).

Malicious npm packages posing as Telegram bot libraries install SSH backdoors and exfiltrate data from Linux developer machines.

A supply chain attack on Rspack's npm packages injected cryptomining malware, potentially impacting thousands of developers.

MITRE has just minted its 400th CNA, as the NVD struggles to tame its backlog of CVEs awaiting analysis, which has increased by 30% since June.