GCD AI RADAR
incidents/AIR-2023-0010

PyTorch-Nightly PyPI Package Compromised with Malicious Dependency

Attack on AI3 Confirmed exploitationSupply chain

Threat actors uploaded a malicious dependency matching the name of a PyTorch-nightly package to PyPI, performing a supply chain attack. The compromised packages exposed sensitive data on infected Linux machines before PyTorch announced the incident.

Details

type
Attack on AI
An AI model, agent or AI-powered product was the thing exploited, abused or leaked.
categories
  • Supply chain
    Malicious or backdoored models, poisoned packages, unsafe deserialization and other compromised AI dependencies.
owasp llm top 10
mitre atlas
Both rows are derived from the type and categories (OWASP 2025 edition, ATLAS release 2026.09), not classified per record. How
severity
3 · Confirmed exploitation
Used against real targets; limited or unclear impact.
targets
Framework / tooling
products
PyTorch-nightly
incident date
25 Dec 2022
first reported
31 Mar 2023
origin
AVID
classifier confidence
0.95 · published at or above 0.80; see the methodology
tags
supply_chain · dependency_confusion · pypi
record
created 2026-10-18 06:56Z · updated 2026-10-18 06:56Z · json

Sources · 4

  1. 2023-03-31
    AVID-2023-V015: Linux packages for PyTorch's pre-release version, called Pytorch-nightly, were compromised from December 25 to 30, 2022 by a malicious binary uploaded to the Python Package Index (PyPI) code repository.
    AVID · github.com/avidml/avid-db/blob/main/vulnerabilities/2023/AVID-2023-V015.json
  2. 2023-03-31
    Compromised PyTorch Dependency Chain
    MITRE ATLAS · atlas.mitre.org/studies/AML.CS0015
  3. 2023-03-31
    PyTorch statement on compromised dependency
    pytorch.org · pytorch.org/blog/compromised-nightly-dependency
  4. 2023-03-31
    Analysis by BleepingComputer
    BleepingComputer · bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/pytorch-discloses-malicious-dependency-chain-

Titles and links belong to their publishers. The summary above is written by GCD AI RADAR in its own words; data is CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related incidents