Malicious Code Injection in gcrnnc-devapptea: A Threat to npm Ecosystem
Summary
MAL-2025-103074: Malicious code in gcrnnc-devapptea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
Check if this vulnerability affects your application
Upload a manifest or SBOM and we'll show whether you're affected, plus every other risky package in the same scan.
No signup required · Results in about 60 seconds
Background
gcrnnc-devapptea is a package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been known to flood the npm registry with various packages. This package is designed to facilitate token rewards by generating derivative packages with randomized names, potentially compromising the integrity of the npm ecosystem.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in gcrnnc-devapptea stems from its malicious code that 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 these variants, polluting the npm registry and inflating developer reputation scores fraudulently. The origin of this issue is linked to the broader campaign of malicious packages targeting npm users, which can result in significant security risks and trust erosion within the developer community.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall gcrnnc-devappteaIf it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
Tip — Not sure whether your app is affected? Vulert can check the versions your app actually runs. Scan free →
Workaround
As a temporary workaround, you can avoid using gcrnnc-devapptea and any packages that depend on it. Regularly audit your package-lock.json file to identify and remove any potentially malicious packages. You can also use tools like Vulert to monitor your dependencies for vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
The gcrnnc-devapptea package poses a significant threat to the npm ecosystem due to its malicious code that modifies package metadata and repackages itself. It is crucial for developers to remove this package from their projects and monitor their dependencies for similar vulnerabilities to maintain the integrity of their applications.
See every vulnerability recorded for gcrnnc-devapptea →
FAQ
gcrnnc-devapptea is an npm package linked to the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been identified as containing malicious code.
This vulnerability can lead to the pollution of the npm registry, compromising the integrity of your application and potentially exposing it to further security risks.
If you have gcrnnc-devapptea installed, you should uninstall it immediately and check for any dependencies that may be affected.
You can use Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json file for vulnerabilities in real-time without requiring code access or installation.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without any signup.
