Malicious Code Injection in Extended Bison-Apptea Package
Summary
MAL-2025-102408: Malicious code in extended_bison-apptea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The 'extended_bison-apptea' package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign that has infiltrated the npm ecosystem. This package is designed to facilitate token rewards through automated publishing scripts that generate derivative packages. Its functionality is compromised due to the presence of malicious code that alters package metadata and floods the npm registry with spammy packages.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability originates from the malicious code embedded in the 'extended_bison-apptea' package. This code is designed to modify the package.json file by removing private flags, altering version numbers, and generating random package names. The continuous republishing of these variants can lead to pollution of the npm registry, affecting developers' ability to find legitimate packages and potentially damaging their reputation.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall extended_bison-appteaIf 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 remove the 'extended_bison-apptea' package from your project by executing 'npm uninstall extended_bison-apptea'. This will prevent any malicious code from executing until a fix is applied.
Conclusion
The 'extended_bison-apptea' package contains malicious code that poses a significant risk to developers and their projects. It is crucial to stay informed about such vulnerabilities and take appropriate actions, such as updating or uninstalling affected packages, to maintain the integrity of your software.
See every vulnerability recorded for extended_bison-apptea →
FAQ
It is a package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign that automates the publishing of derivative packages.
The malicious code modifies your package.json file and can lead to the generation of spammy packages, which may affect your project's integrity and reputation.
Yes, you can use Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time without requiring code access or installation.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check for vulnerabilities in your application without needing to sign up.
If an immediate update is not possible, consider uninstalling the package as a temporary measure to prevent any potential exploitation.
