Jun 16, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / DevOps Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious package on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that's capable of harvesting sensitive developer-related information, such as credentials, configuration data, and environment variables, among others. The package, named chimera-sandbox-extensions, attracted 143 downloads and likely targets users of a service called Chimera Sandbox, which was released by Singaporean tech company Grab last August to facilitate "experimentation and development of [machine learning] solutions." The package masquerades as a helper module for Chimera Sandbox, but "aims to steal credentials and other sensitive information such as Jamf configuration, CI/CD environment variables, AWS tokens, and more," JFrog security researcher Guy Korolevski said in a report published last week. Once installed, it attempts to connect to an external domain whose domain name is generated using a domain generation algorithm (DGA) in order to download and execute a next-stage payload. Specifically, the malware acquires from the domain an authentication token, which is then used to send a request to the same domain and retrieve the Python-based information stealer. The stealer malware is equipped to siphon a wide range of data from infected machines. This includes - JAMF receipts, which are records of software packages installed by Jamf Pro on managed computers Pod sandbox environment authentication tokens and git information CI/CD information from environment variables Zscaler host configuration Amazon Web Services account information and tokens Public IP address General platform, user, and host information The kind of data gathered by the malware shows that it's mainly geared towards corporate and cloud infrastructure. In addition, the extraction of JAMF receipts indicates that it's also capable of targeting Apple macOS systems. The collected information is sent via a POST request back to the same domain, after which the server assesses if the machine is a worthy target for further exploitation. However, JFrog said it was unable to obtain the payload at the time of analysis. "The targeted approach employed by this malware, along with the complexity of its multi-stage targeted payload, distinguishes it from the more generic open-source malware threats we have encountered thus far, highlighting the advancements that malicious packages have made recently," Jonathan Sar Shalom, director of threat research at JFrog Security Research team, said. "This new sophistication of malware underscores why development teams remain vigilant with updates—alongside proactive security research – to defend against emerging threats and maintain software integrity." The disclosure comes as SafeDep and Veracode detailed a number of malware-laced npm packages that are designed to execute remote code and download additional payloads. The packages in question are listed below - eslint-config-airbnb-compat (676 Downloads) ts-runtime-compat-check (1,588 Downloads) solders (983 Downloads) @mediawave/lib (386 Downloads) All the identified npm packages have since been taken down from npm, but not before they were downloaded hundreds of times from the package registry. SafeDep's analysis of eslint-config-airbnb-compat found that the JavaScript library has ts-runtime-compat-check listed as a dependency, which, in turn, contacts an external server defined in the former package ("proxy.eslint-proxy[.]site") to retrieve and execute a Base64-encoded string. The exact nature of the payload is unknown. "It implements a multi-stage remote code execution attack using a transitive dependency to hide the malicious code," SafeDep researcher Kunal Singh said. Solders, on the other hand, has been found to incorporate a post-install script in its package.json, causing the malicious code to be automatically executed as soon as the package is installed. "At first glance, it's hard to believe that this is actually valid JavaScript," the Veracode Threat Research team said. "It looks like a seemingly random collection of Japanese symbols. It turns out that this particular obfuscation scheme uses the Unicode characters as variable names and a sophisticated chain of dynamic code generation to work." Decoding the script reveals an extra layer of obfuscation, unpacking which reveals its main function: Check if the compromised machine is Windows, and if so, run a PowerShell command to retrieve a next-stage payload from a remote server ("firewall[.]tel"). This second-stage PowerShell script, also obscured, is designed to fetch a Windows batch script from another domain ("cdn.audiowave[.]org") and configures a Windows Defender Antivirus exclusion list to avoid detection. The batch script then paves the way for the execution of a .NET DLL that reaches out to a PNG image hosted on ImgBB ("i.ibb[.]co"). "[The DLL] is grabbing the last two pixels from this image and then looping through some data contained elsewhere in it," Veracode said. "It ultimately builds up in memory YET ANOTHER .NET DLL." Furthermore, the DLL is equipped to create task scheduler entries and features the ability to bypass user account control (UAC) using a combination of FodHelper.exe and programmatic identifiers (ProgIDs) to evade defenses and avoid triggering any security alerts to the user. The newly-downloaded DLL is Pulsar RAT, a "free, open-source Remote Administration Tool for Windows" and a variant of the Quasar RAT. "From a wall of Japanese characters to a RAT hidden within the pixels of a PNG file, the attacker went to extraordinary lengths to conceal their payload, nesting it a dozen layers deep to evade detection," Veracode said. "While the attacker's ultimate objective for deploying the Pulsar RAT remains unclear, the sheer complexity of this delivery mechanism is a powerful indicator of malicious intent." Crypto Malware in the Open-Source Supply Chain The findings also coincide with a report from Socket that identified credential stealers, cryptocurrency drainers, cryptojackers, and clippers as the main types of threats targeting the cryptocurrency and blockchain development ecosystem. Some of the examples of these packages include - express-dompurify and pumptoolforvolumeandcomment, which are capable of harvesting browser credentials and cryptocurrency wallet keys bs58js, which drains a victim's wallet and uses multi-hop transfers to obscure theft and frustrate forensic tracing. lsjglsjdv, asyncaiosignal, and raydium-sdk-liquidity-init, which functions as a clipper to monitor the system clipboard for cryptocurrency wallet strings and replace them with threat actor‑controlled addresses to reroute transactions to the attackers "As Web3 development converges with mainstream software engineering, the attack surface for blockchain-focused projects is expanding in both scale and complexity," Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko said. "Financially motivated threat actors and state-sponsored groups are rapidly evolving their tactics to exploit systemic weaknesses in the software supply chain. These campaigns are iterative, persistent, and increasingly tailored to high-value targets." AI and Slopsquatting The rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted coding, also called vibe coding, has unleashed another novel threat in the form of slopsquatting, where large language models (LLMs) can hallucinate non-existent but plausible package names that bad actors can weaponize to conduct supply chain attacks. Trend Micro, in a report last week, said it observed an unnamed advanced agent "confidently" cooking up a phantom Python package named starlette-reverse-proxy, only for the build process to crash with the error "module not found." However, should an adversary upload a package with the same name on the repository, it can have serious security consequences. Furthermore, the cybersecurity company noted that advanced coding agents and workflows such as Claude Code CLI, OpenAI Codex CLI, and Cursor AI with Model Context Protocol (MCP)-backed validation can help reduce, but not completely eliminate, the risk of slopsquatting. "When agents hallucinate dependencies or install unverified packages, they create an opportunity for slopsquatting attacks, in which malicious actors pre-register those same hallucinated names on public registries," security researcher Sean Park said. "While reasoning-enhanced agents can reduce the rate of phantom suggestions by approximately half, they do not eliminate them entirely. Even the vibe-coding workflow augmented with live MCP validations achieves the lowest rates of slip-through, but still misses edge cases." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russia’s datacentre sector was one of the fastest-growing segments of the country’s IT industry, with annual growth rates in the region of 10-12%. However, with the conflict resulting in the imposition of Western sanctions against Russia and an outflow of US-based tech companies from the country, including Apple and Microsoft, optimism about the sector’s potential for further growth soon disappeared. In early March 2025, it was reported that Google had disconnected from traffic exchange points and datacentres in Russia, leading to concerns about how this could negatively affect the speed of access to some Google services for Russian users. Initially, there was hope that domestic technology and datacentre providers might be able to plug the gaps left by the exodus of the US tech giants, but it seems they could not keep up with the hosting demands of Russia’s increasingly digital economy. Oleg Kim, director of the hardware systems department at Russian IT company Axoft, says the departure of foreign cloud providers and equipment manufacturers has led to a serious shortage of compute capacity in Russia. This is because the situation resulted in a sharp, initial increase in demand for domestic datacentres, but Russian providers simply did not have time to expand their capacities on the required scale, continues Kim. According to the estimates of Key Point, one of Russia’s largest datacentre networks, meeting Russia’s demand for datacentres will require facilities with a total capacity of 30,000 racks to be built each year over the next five years. On top of this, it has also become more costly to build datacentres in Russia. Estimates suggest that prior to 2022, the cost of a datacentre rack totalled 100,000 rubles ($1,200), but now exceeds 150,000 rubles. And analysts at Forbes Russia expect these figures will continue to grow, due to rising logistics costs and the impact the war is having on the availability of skilled labour in the construction sector. The impact of these challenges is being keenly felt by users, with several of the country’s large banks experiencing serious problems when finding suitable locations for their datacentres. Sberbank is among the firms affected, with its chairperson, German Gref, speaking out previously about how the bank is in need of a datacentre with at least 200MW of capacity, but would ideally need 300-400MW to address its compute requirements. Stanislav Bliznyuk, chairperson of T-Bank, says trying to build even two 50MW datacentres to meet its needs is proving problematic. “Finding locations where such capacity and adequate tariffs are available is a difficult task,” he said. Read more about datacentre developments North Lincolnshire Council has received a planning permission application for another large-scale datacentre development, in support of its bid to become an AI Growth Zone A proposal to build one of the biggest datacentres in Europe has been submitted to Hertsmere Borough Council, and already has the support of the technology secretary and local councillors. The UK government has unveiled its 50-point AI action plan, which commits to building sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities and accelerating AI datacentre developments – but questions remain about the viability of the plans. Despite this, T-Bank is establishing its own network of data processing centres – the first of which should open in early 2027, he confirmed in November 2024. Kirill Solyev, head of the engineering infrastructure department of the Softline Group of Companies, who specialise in IT, says many large Russian companies are resorting to building their own datacentres – because compute capacity is in such short supply. The situation is, however, complicated by the lack of suitable locations for datacentres in the largest cities of Russia – Moscow and St Petersburg. “For example, to build a datacentre with a capacity of 60MW, finding a suitable site can take up to three years,” says Solyev. “In Moscow, according to preliminary estimates, there are about 50MW of free capacity left, which is equivalent to 2-4 large commercial datacentres. “The capacity deficit only in the southern part of the Moscow region is predicted at 564MW by 2030, and up to 3.15GW by 2042.” As a result, datacentre operators and investors are now looking for suitable locations outside of Moscow and St Petersburg, and seeking to co-locate new datacentres in close proximity to renewable energy sources. And this will be important as demand for datacentre capacity in Russia is expected to increase, as it is in most of the rest of the world, due to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services. The energy-intensive nature of AI workloads will put further pressure on operators that are already struggling to meet the compute capacity demands of their customers. Speaking at the recent Ural Forum on cyber security in finance, Alexander Kraynov, director of AI technology development at Yandex, says solving the energy consumption issue of AI datacentres will not be easy. “The world is running out of electricity, including for AI, while the same situation is observed in Russia,” he said. “In order to ensure a stable energy supply of a newly built large datacentre, we will need up to one year.” According to a recent report of the Russian Vedomosti business paper, as of April 2024, Russian datacentres have used about 2.6GW, which is equivalent to about 1% of the installed capacity of the Unified Energy System of Russia. Accommodating AI workloads will also mean operators will need to purchase additional equipment, including expensive accelerators based on graphic processing units and higher-performing data storage systems. The implementation of these plans and the viability of these purchases is likely to be seriously complicated by the current sanctions regime against Russia. That said, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, claims this part of the datacentre supply equation is being partially solved by an uptick in the domestic production of datacentre kit. According to the Mishustin, more than half of the server equipment and industrial storage and information processing systems needed for datacentres are already being produced in Russia – and these figures will continue to grow. The government also plans to provide additional financial support to the industry, as – to date – building datacentres in Russia has been prevented by relatively long payback periods, of up to 10 years in some cases, of such projects. One of the possible support measures on offer could include the subsidisation of at least part of the interest rates on loans to datacentre developers and operators. At the same time, though, the government’s actions in other areas have made it harder for operators to build new facilities. For example, in March 2025, the Russian government significantly tightened the existing norms for the establishment of new datacentres in the form of new rules for the design of data processing centres, which came into force after the approval by the Russian Ministry of Construction. According to Nikita Tsaplin, CEO of Russian hosting provider RUVDS, the rules led to additional bureaucracy in the sector (due to the positioning of datacentres as typical construction objects). And, according to his predictions, that situation can extend the construction cycle of a datacentre from around five years to seven years. The government’s intervention here was to prevent the installation of servers in residential areas, such as garages, but it looks set to complicate an already complex situation – prompting questions about whether Russia’s datacentre market will ever reach its full potential.

May 26, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybersecurity / Cryptocurrency As many as 60 malicious npm packages have been discovered in the package registry with malicious functionality to harvest hostnames, IP addresses, DNS servers, and user directories to a Discord-controlled endpoint. The packages, published under three different accounts, come with an install‑time script that's triggered during npm install, Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko said in a report published last week. The libraries have been collectively downloaded over 3,000 times. "The script targets Windows, macOS, or Linux systems, and includes basic sandbox‑evasion checks, making every infected workstation or continuous‑integration node a potential source of valuable reconnaissance," the software supply chain security firm said. The names of the three accounts, each of which published 20 packages within an 11-day time period, are listed below. The accounts no longer exist on npm - bbbb335656 cdsfdfafd1232436437, and sdsds656565 The malicious code, per Socket, is explicitly designed to fingerprint every machine that installs the package, while also aborting the execution if it detects that it's running in a virtualized environment associated with Amazon, Google, and others. The harvested information, which includes host details, system DNS servers, network interface card (NIC) information, and internal and external IP addresses, is then transmitted to a Discord webhook. "By harvesting internal and external IP addresses, DNS servers, usernames, and project paths, it enables a threat actor to chart the network and identify high‑value targets for future campaigns," Boychenko said. The disclosure follows another set of eight npm packages that masquerade as helper libraries for widely-used JavaScript frameworks including React, Vue.js, Vite, Node.js, and the open-source Quill Editor, but deploy destructive payloads once installed. They have been downloaded more than 6,200 times and are still available for download from the repository - vite-plugin-vue-extend quill-image-downloader js-hood js-bomb vue-plugin-bomb vite-plugin-bomb vite-plugin-bomb-extend, and vite-plugin-react-extend "Masquerading as legitimate plugins and utilities while secretly containing destructive payloads designed to corrupt data, delete critical files, and crash systems, these packages remained undetected," Socket security researcher Kush Pandya said. Some of the identified packages have been found to execute automatically once developers invoke them in their projects, enabling recursive deletion of files related to Vue.js, React, and Vite. Others are designed to either corrupt fundamental JavaScript methods or tamper with browser storage mechanisms like localStorage, sessionStorage, and cookies. Another package of note is js-bomb, which goes beyond deleting Vue.js framework files by also initiating a system shutdown based on the current time of the execution. The activity has been traced to a threat actor named xuxingfeng, who has also published five legitimate, non-malicious packages that work as intended. Some of the rogue packages were published in 2023. "This dual approach of releasing both harmful and helpful packages creates a facade of legitimacy that makes malicious packages more likely to be trusted and installed," Pandya said. The findings also follow the discovery of a novel attack campaign that combines traditional email phishing with JavaScript code that's part of a malicious npm package disguised as a benign open-source library. "Once communication was established, the package loaded and delivered a second-stage script that customized phishing links using the victim's email address, leading them to a fake Office 365 login page designed to steal their credentials," Fortra researcher Israel Cerda said. The starting point of the attack is a phishing email containing a malicious .HTM file, which includes encrypted JavaScript code hosted on jsDelivr and associated with a now-removed npm package named citiycar8. Once installed, the JavaScript payload embedded within the package is used to initiate a URL redirection chain that eventually leads the user to a bogus landing page designed to capture their credentials. "This phishing attack demonstrates a high level of sophistication, with threat actors linking technologies such as AES encryption, npm packages delivered through a CDN, and multiple redirections to mask their malicious intentions," Cerda said. "The attack not only illustrates the creative ways that attackers attempt to evade detection but also highlights the importance of vigilance in the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats." The abuse of open-source repositories for malware distribution has become a tried-and-tested approach for conducting supply chain attacks at scale. In recent weeks, malicious data-stealing extensions have also been uncovered in Microsoft's Visual Studio Code (VS Code) Marketplace that are engineered to siphon cryptocurrency wallet credentials by targeting Solidity developers on Windows. The activity has been attributed by Datadog Security Research to a threat actor it tracks as MUT-9332. The names of the extensions are as follows - solaibot among-eth, and blankebesxstnion "The extensions disguise themselves as legitimate, concealing harmful code within genuine features, and use command and control domains that appear relevant to Solidity and that would not typically be flagged as malicious," Datadog researchers said. "All three extensions employ complex infection chains that involve multiple stages of obfuscated malware, including one that uses a payload hidden inside an image file hosted on the Internet Archive." Specifically, the extensions were advertised as offering syntax scanning and vulnerability detection for Solidity developers. While they offer genuine functionality, the extensions are also designed to deliver malicious payloads that steal cryptocurrency wallet credentials from victim Windows systems. The three extensions have since been taken down. The end goal of the VS Code extension is to slip a malicious Chromium-based browser extension that's capable of plundering Ethereum wallets and leaking them to a command-and-control (C2) endpoint. It's also equipped to install a separate executable that disables Windows Defender scanning, scans application data directories for Discord, Chromium-based browsers, cryptocurrency wallets, and Electron applications, and retrieves and executes an additional payload from a remote server. MUT-9332 is also assessed to be behind a recently disclosed campaign that involved the use of 10 malicious VS Code extensions to install an XMRig cryptominer by passing off as coding or artificial intelligence (AI) tools. "This campaign demonstrates the surprising and creative lengths to which MUT-9332 is willing to go when it comes to concealing their malicious intentions," Datadog said. "These payload updates suggest that this campaign will likely continue, and the detection and removal of this first batch of malicious VS Code extensions may prompt MUT-9332 to change tactics in subsequent ones." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

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May 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybersecurity / Malware Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered malicious packages uploaded to the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that act as checker tools to validate stolen email addresses against TikTok and Instagram APIs. All three packages are no longer available on PyPI. The names of the Python packages are below - checker-SaGaF (2,605 downloads) steinlurks (1,049 downloads) sinnercore (3,300 downloads) "True to its name, checker-SaGaF checks if an email is associated with a TikTok account and an Instagram account," Socket researcher Olivia Brown said in an analysis published last week. Specifically, the package is designed to send HTTP POST requests to TikTok's password recovery API and Instagram's account login endpoints to determine if an email address passed as input is valid, meaning there exists an account holder corresponding to that email address. "Once threat actors have this information, just from an email address, they can threaten to dox or spam, conduct fake report attacks to get accounts suspended, or solely confirm target accounts before launching a credential stuffing or password spraying exploit," Brown said. "Validated user lists are also sold on the dark web for profit. It can seem harmless to construct dictionaries of active emails, but this information enables and accelerates entire attack chains and minimizes detection by only targeting known-valid accounts." The second package "steinlurks," in a similar manner, targets Instagram accounts by sending forged HTTP POST requests mimicking the Instagram Android app to evade detection. It achieves this by targeting different API endpoints - i.instagram[.]com/api/v1/users/lookup/ i.instagram[.]com/api/v1/bloks/apps/com.bloks.www.caa.ar.search.async/ i.instagram[.]com/api/v1/accounts/send_recovery_flow_email/ www.instagram[.]com/api/v1/web/accounts/check_email/ "Sinnercore," on the other hand, aims to trigger the forgot password flow for a given username, targeting the API endpoint "b.i.instagram[.]com/api/v1/accounts/send_password_reset/" with fake HTTP requests containing the target's username. "There is also functionality targeting Telegram, namely extracting name, user ID, bio, and premium status, as well as other attributes," Brown explained. "Some parts of sinnercore are focused on crypto utilities, like getting real-time Binance price or currency conversions. It even targets PyPI programmers by fetching detailed info on any PyPI package, likely used for fake developer profiles or pretending to be developers." The disclosure comes as ReversingLabs detailed another malicious package named "dbgpkg" that masquerades as a debugging utility but implants a backdoor on the developer's system to facilitate code execution and data exfiltration. While the package is not accessible anymore, it's estimated to have been downloaded about 350 times. Interestingly, the package in question has been found to contain the same payload as the one embedded in "discordpydebug," which was flagged by Socket earlier this month. ReversingLabs said it also identified a third package called "requestsdev" that's believed to be part of the same campaign. It attracted 76 downloads before being taken down. Further analysis has determined that the package's backdoor technique using GSocket resembles that of Phoenix Hyena (aka DumpForums or Silent Crow), a hacktivist group known for targeting Russian entities, including Doctor Web, in the aftermath of the Russo-Ukrainian war in early 2022. While the attribution is tentative at best, ReversingLabs pointed out that the activity could also be the work of a copycat threat actor. However, the use of identical payloads and the fact that "discordpydebug" was first uploaded in March 2022 strengthen the case for a possible connection to Phoenix Hyena. "The malicious techniques used in this campaign, including a specific type of backdoor implant and the use of Python function wrapping, show that the threat actor behind it is sophisticated and very careful to avoid detection," security researcher Karlo Zanki said. "The use of function wrapping and tools like the Global Socket Toolkit show that the threat actors behind it were also looking to establish long-term presence on compromised systems without being noticed." The findings also coincide with the discovery of a malicious npm package called "koishi‑plugin‑pinhaofa" that installs a data‑exfiltration backdoor in chatbots powered by the Koishi framework. The package is no longer available for download from npm. "Marketed as a spelling‑autocorrect helper, the plugin scans every message for an eight‑character hexadecimal string," security researcher Kirill Boychenko said. "When it finds one, it forwards the full message, potentially including any embedded secrets or credentials, to a hard-coded QQ account." "Eight character hex often represent short Git commit hashes, truncated JWT or API tokens, CRC‑32 checksums, GUID lead segments, or device serial numbers, each of which can unlock wider systems or map internal assets. By harvesting the whole message the threat actor also scoops up any surrounding secrets, passwords, URLs, credentials, tokens, or IDs." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" At the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the Estonian Ministry of Culture unveiled the installation and exhibition "Let me warm you," which was curated by architects Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena Männa and displayed in the Estonian Pavilion.The Pavilion examines if the current insulation-driven renovations are a chance to improve the social and spatial quality of mass housing districts or if they are just a compliance tool to fulfill European energy targets.In order to draw attention to this problem, the Estonian Pavilion will install insulation panels on the front of a Venetian building—a technique that is also employed in Estonia for mass housing. The palazzetto is situated in the Castello area at Riva dei Sette Martiri 1611, which lies on the waterfront between Corso Garibaldi and the Giardini. An exhibition demonstrating how social interactions among many stakeholders impact spatial solutions will be held in a room coated in plastic film on the ground floor of the same structure. "With this project, we question whether insulation is just a bureaucratic checkbox for meeting EU targets or a real chance to tackle social and spatial challenges," said curators Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena Männa."It exposes the clash between bold global ambitions and the everyday realities of people navigating collective decisions."One half of the world is utilizing more powerful cooling systems, while the other half is putting in ever-thicker layers of insulation to combat climate change.Estonia has set an ambitious aim to renovate all residential complexes built before 2000 to at least energy efficiency class C as Europe rushes to become climate neutral by 2050. This extensive repair project is a component of a broader European initiative to address the climate catastrophe by modernizing the old housing stock. Insulation, however, should be viewed as a significant improvement in quality of life rather than as a temporary solution or "bandage."Finding a balance between aggressive climate policies and the daily demands of the residents of these spaces is the true difficulty, considering the large expenses and long-term effects of these modifications.The same materials and design components commonly used in Estonian renovations will be used for the installation, which will be installed directly onto the façade of the current structure. It makes a strong visual statement when juxtaposed with Venice's elaborate architecture. Renovating residential buildings from the Soviet era in Estonia sometimes involves little to no architectural involvement, which perpetuates a problematic disrespect for the potential and character of these areas. The installation attempts to provoke a conversation between residents and architects about the cities and spaces we hope to live in by contrasting a façade covered in fiber cement with Venice's rich historic fabric. An exhibition exploring the social factors influencing remodeling choices will be located on the palazzetto's ground floor. Since the majority of apartment buildings in Estonia are privately owned, renovation decisions are frequently influenced by budgetary considerations, leaving limited opportunity for spatial enhancements other than insulation.The actual exhibition space, an existing apartment, will be covered in plastic film, signifying the constant drive for remodeling while highlighting how superficial repairs frequently obscure the more profound relationships and practical demands people have with their houses. Using theatrical dialogues and exaggerated spatial effects, a model of a Soviet-era housing block at its center highlights human interactions and illustrates how various relationships and interactions affect space.The exhibition encourages visitors to consider the conflict between policy-driven energy goals and the lived realities of individuals impacted by them by shedding light on the intricacies of community living and refurbishment decisions.A catalogue that shows the tragicomedy of an apartment complex in six episodes is included with the presentation. It examines topics from community revival to the dread of change, all based on the experiences of actual people.With the theme Intelligens Natural Artificial Collective the Biennale Architettura 2025, organized by architect Carlo Ratti, will focus on the built environment as a major source of atmospheric emissions, making architecture one of the primary culprits in the deterioration of our planet. As the climate situation worsens, architects need to provide practical, non-cosmetic, efficient, and expedient solutions.In this sense, the Estonian exhibition responds to Ratti’s call for pavilions: "This year’s head theme offers good ground to discuss what happens to architecture when the Architect is excluded from the process," explained Johanna Jõekalda, advisor on architecture and design at the Ministry of Culture of Estonia, Commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion."Renovation processes that are planned by residents themselves according to their best knowledge, provide a good example of how collective intelligence, or lack of it, affects our spatial environment." "The Estonian Pavilion gives the message that the architectural quality of the living environment should not be overlooked in renovation processes," Jõekalda explained.Visitors will actively interact with the pavilion and building during the Venice Biennale with "Let me warm you." Rethinking rehabilitation techniques could help Estonia lead Europe in updating old buildings for a more sustainable and livable future, not merely for energy efficiency.Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. Project factsPavilion of Estonia: Let me warm you Location: Riva dei Sette Martiri 1611 (Castello neighborhood), VeniceCommissioner: Johanna JõekaldaCurators Exhibitors: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena MännaOrganiser: Ministry of Culture of EstoniaCo-organiser: Estonian Museum of Architecture Creative team: Märten Rattasepp, Kirill Havanski, Aadam Kaarma, Joosep KivimäeProduction: Mari-Liis VunderCollaborators: Neeme Külm (Valge Kuup Studio), Margus Tammik, Robert Männa, Markus Puidak, Randel Pomber.All images © Joosep Kivimäe.> via Estonian Pavilion