Python has been deemed as a “simple” language — easy to use and easy to develop scripts to do numerous tasks — from web scraping to automation to building large-scale web applications and even performing data science. However, dependencies are managed quite differently in Python than in other languages, and the myriad options of setting up an environment and package managers only add to the confusion.
On February 9, 2021, Alex Birsan disclosed his aptly named security research, dependency confusion. In his disclosure, he describes how a novel supply chain attack that exploits misconfiguration by developers, as well as design flaws of numerous package managers in the open source language-based software ecosystems, allowed him to gain access and exfiltrate data from companies such as Yelp, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, and others.
