Malicious Code Injection in Costly Dove Z3N Package
Summary
MAL-2025-101030: Malicious code in costly_dove_z3n (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
Costly Dove Z3N is an npm package that is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign. It is designed to facilitate token rewards through various functionalities. However, it has been identified as a malicious package that employs scripts to manipulate its own metadata and publish numerous derivative packages, leading to potential security risks for developers and users.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability originates from the package's malicious payload, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags and alters version numbers. It generates random package names and continuously republishes these variants to the npm registry, thereby polluting it. This behavior can lead to reputation inflation for developers and may expose users to untrusted code, increasing the risk of security breaches.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall costly_dove_z3nIf it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
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Workaround
As a temporary workaround, you can prevent the installation of this malicious package by using npm's package-lock.json to monitor dependencies. Ensure that your project does not include costly_dove_z3n by checking your package.json and removing any references to it.
Conclusion
The costly_dove_z3n package has been identified as a malicious entity within the npm ecosystem, posing significant risks to developers and users alike. It is crucial to remove this package and monitor your dependencies to maintain the integrity of your applications.
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FAQ
The malicious code modifies package metadata and publishes numerous derivative packages to inflate developer reputation scores.
You can use Vulert, which monitors open-source vulnerabilities in real-time. Visit Vulert Scanner to check your application without any signup.
Using this package can expose your application to untrusted code, leading to potential security breaches and reputation damage.
Yes, you can monitor your dependencies using package-lock.json and ensure that costly_dove_z3n is not included in your project.
You should uninstall the package immediately using 'npm uninstall costly_dove_z3n' and check for any other affected packages.
