Hallucinated Packages (Slopsquatting)

Try it out loud first. Then check yourself:

1. Coding assistants sometimes suggest package names that do not exist, and they repeat the same made-up names.
2. Attackers register those names on npm or PyPI with malicious code; this is known as slopsquatting.
3. Treat suggested dependencies like any new dependency: check the package exists, its age, maintainers and downloads.
4. Controls: lockfiles, an internal registry or allowlist, and dependency scanning in CI before anything new is installed.

If the interviewer pushes back

• How would you detect a hallucinated package that already made it into a build?

Go deeper

• genai.owasp.org/llmrisk/llm092025-misinformation/
• attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1195/001/