Malicious Code Injection in early_sailfish_z3n Package - npm Vulnerability
Summary
MAL-2025-132957: Malicious code in early_sailfish_z3n (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The early_sailfish_z3n package is part of the npm ecosystem, which is widely used for JavaScript package management. This package has been identified as part of a malicious campaign that aims to exploit the npm registry by flooding it with derivative packages. These packages are designed to inflate developer reputation scores for token rewards, making them a significant threat to the integrity of the npm ecosystem.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the early_sailfish_z3n package stems from its malicious code, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This behavior leads to the continuous republishing of variants, polluting the npm registry and potentially compromising the security of applications that depend on these packages. The origin of this vulnerability is linked to a campaign that leverages autopublish scripts to automate the creation and distribution of these malicious packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall early_sailfish_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 avoid using the early_sailfish_z3n package and any other packages that are part of the malicious campaign. Additionally, you can use npm audit to identify and address vulnerabilities in your dependencies.
Conclusion
The early_sailfish_z3n package has been identified as a malicious package that poses a significant threat to the npm ecosystem. It is crucial for developers to be aware of this vulnerability and take appropriate actions to secure their applications.
See every vulnerability recorded for early_sailfish_z3n →
FAQ
The early_sailfish_z3n package is an npm package that has been identified as part of a malicious campaign to exploit the npm registry.
This vulnerability can lead to the pollution of the npm registry and may compromise the security of applications that depend on the affected package.
You should update the package to a patched version if available or remove it from your project to mitigate the risk.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities using just package-lock.json.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected without requiring any signup.
