Malicious Code Injection in inal-poke55: A Threat to npm Ecosystem
Summary
MAL-2025-156443: Malicious code in inal-poke55 (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
The package in question, inal-poke55, is part of a series of npm packages that have been associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. These packages are designed to manipulate the npm registry by automatically generating and publishing derivative packages with randomized names. This behavior is intended to inflate developer reputation scores for rewards associated with the tea protocol. The malicious nature of this package poses a significant risk to developers and the integrity of the npm ecosystem.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in inal-poke55 stems from its malicious payload, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This results in the continuous republishing of variants, leading to pollution of the npm registry. The origin of this vulnerability is linked to the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which exploits npm's publishing mechanisms to manipulate developer reputation scores. The ramifications include potential security risks for developers who unknowingly use these packages, as well as the degradation of the npm registry's reliability.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall inal-poke55If 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 workaround, you can temporarily avoid using the inal-poke55 package and replace it with a trusted alternative. Regularly check your package-lock.json file for any dependencies that may introduce vulnerabilities. You can also use tools like Vulert to monitor your project for vulnerabilities without needing to access the code directly.
Conclusion
The inal-poke55 package poses a significant threat to the npm ecosystem due to its malicious code designed to manipulate package publishing. Developers should take immediate action to remove this package and monitor their dependencies for vulnerabilities. Utilizing tools like Vulert can help maintain the security of your projects.
See every vulnerability recorded for inal-poke55 →
FAQ
inal-poke55 is an npm package that has been identified as malicious, part of a campaign to manipulate npm's publishing system for token rewards.
The vulnerability can lead to the introduction of malicious code into your project, potentially compromising its security and integrity.
You should uninstall the package immediately using the command npm uninstall inal-poke55 and audit your project for any other vulnerabilities.
Yes, you can use Vulert's playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without any signup.
Regularly audit your dependencies, use trusted packages, and consider using tools like Vulert to monitor for vulnerabilities in real-time.
