Pidgin removes malicious plugin containing keylogger and sharing screenshots

Pidgin, the popular multiprotocol chat program, recently discovered a malicious plugin named ss-otr that contained a keylogger and shared screenshots with unauthorized parties. The plugin was added to Pidgin's third-party plugins list on July 6th. On August 16th, a user reported the suspicious behavior, prompting Pidgin to quietly remove the plugin and initiate an investigation. By August 22nd, Pidgin confirmed the presence of the keylogger in the malicious plugin.

Users who installed the ss-otr plugin are advised to uninstall it immediately. The plugin's lack of source code and provision of only binaries went unnoticed initially. To prevent future incidents, Pidgin will now require all linked plugins to have an OSI Approved Open Source License and undergo a safety verification process.