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Malicious Hugging Face models return, targeting GPU servers for mining
BleepingComputer reports Pluto Security found a crypto-mining campaign on Hugging Face back days after a takedown, with one fake Qwen2 model downloaded more than 28,000 times.
A cryptomining and backdoor campaign that abuses Hugging Face model repositories returned within days of being taken down, BleepingComputer reported Thursday, citing researchers at Pluto Security1.
Pluto found 31 malicious repositories across seven Hugging Face accounts, published in two waves since September, the report said1. The models are presented as small Qwen2 test checkpoints and target GPU hosts running self-hosted inference servers such as Xinference and GPUStack1.
With linked models included, the repositories have more than 32,000 downloads, BleepingComputer said, while Pluto notes that figure counts downloads, not confirmed infections1. The most popular malicious model was downloaded more than 28,000 times1.
Instead of poisoned weights or pickle exploits, the campaign uses Hugging Face's trust_remote_code option, which lets a model ship its own Python and run it when a user enables the setting and loads the model1. The most downloaded listing, MENXIANGYU/qwen2-tiny, contained no actual model, the report said1. Its code installs a cryptocurrency miner disguised as a Linux system process, restarts it if killed, and removes competing miners; some versions also open a reverse shell1.
Pluto reported a first wave to Hugging Face and China's ModelScope, and both removed the accounts, according to BleepingComputer1. Hugging Face later disabled access to that model1. A near-identical copy uploaded Oct. 25 by a newer account, htt0118, was still live when BleepingComputer checked, and the outlet said it contained the same miner and reverse shell1.
Pluto attributes the campaign to a financially motivated, Chinese-speaking operator, citing Simplified Chinese comments, command-and-control servers on Alibaba Cloud, and activity late at night in China, the report said1. Anyone who loaded the models with trust_remote_code enabled should treat the machine as compromised, check Pluto's indicators, and rotate reachable credentials; killing the miner alone does not remove backdoors, BleepingComputer said1.
Separately, researchers flagged a GitHub repository created in November 2025, with 286 stars, that presents itself as a Solana starter kit but contains only a README, the report said1. The README tells users to paste a Windows PowerShell one-liner that fetches and runs a script in memory1. BleepingComputer said it obtained an archived payload and confirmed it installs NetSupport Manager configured for hidden remote access1. The payload URL returned a 404 when checked; the GitHub repository was still live at the time of writing1.
