Malicious Code Injection in gviwau-devapptea Package - npm Vulnerability
Summary
MAL-2025-103433: Malicious code in gviwau-devapptea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The gviwau-devapptea package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign that has infiltrated the npm ecosystem. It is designed to facilitate token rewards through the automatic generation and publication of derivative packages. This package, like others in the campaign, is characterized by its use of scripts that manipulate package metadata to inflate developer reputation scores.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the gviwau-devapptea package stems from its malicious code that modifies the package.json file. This code removes private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names, leading to the continuous republishing of these variants. This behavior not only pollutes the npm registry but also poses a risk to developers who may unknowingly use these compromised packages, potentially leading to security breaches and loss of trust in the npm ecosystem.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall gviwau-devappteaIf 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 gviwau-devapptea package and look for alternative packages that provide similar functionality without the associated risks. Always verify the integrity and reputation of packages before including them in your project.
Conclusion
The gviwau-devapptea package presents a significant security risk due to its malicious code that alters package metadata and republish behavior. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and implement best practices for dependency management to safeguard their projects.
See every vulnerability recorded for gviwau-devapptea →
FAQ
The gviwau-devapptea package is part of a campaign designed to generate token rewards by manipulating npm packages and their metadata.
The malicious code modifies your package.json, removes private flags, and can lead to the republishing of compromised packages, which can introduce security risks.
You should uninstall the gviwau-devapptea package immediately using the command npm uninstall gviwau-devapptea.
Regularly audit your dependencies, use trusted packages, and consider using tools like Vulert to monitor for vulnerabilities in real-time.
Vulert is a tool that monitors and alerts for open-source vulnerabilities in your software using just the package-lock.json file. You can check for vulnerabilities without any installation by using the Vulert playground.
