Supply Chain Risk in Python: Termcolor and Colorama Explained
Essential information
- Published
- 16/08/2025 01:53
- Modified
- 18/08/2025 16:42
- Tags
- 2025-08-16 c2 communication colorinal dll sideloading persistence pypi python supply-chain termncolor zulip
- Related entities
- 5 techniques (mitre)
Description
A suspicious Python package named termncolor was discovered, which imports a malicious dependency called colorinal. This multi-stage malware operation leverages DLL sideloading to decrypt payloads, establish persistence, and conduct command-and-control communication, ultimately leading to remote code execution. The attack begins with the execution of terminate.dll, which decrypts and deploys two files: vcpktsvr.exe and libcef.dll. The malware achieves persistence through a registry entry and gathers system information. It communicates with a C2 server using Zulip traffic patterns for disguise. The threat actor's profile and activities on the Zulip platform were analyzed, revealing patterns in their tactics and behavior.