Malicious Code Injection in ita-16 Package: npm Vulnerability Overview
Summary
MAL-2025-156930: Malicious code in ita-16 (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The ita-16 package is part of the npm ecosystem and is associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. This package is designed to facilitate the automatic generation and publishing of derivative packages, which can inflate developer reputation scores for token rewards. However, it has been identified as containing malicious code that compromises its integrity and the security of the npm registry.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the ita-16 package stems from its malicious payload, 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, effectively polluting the npm registry. The origin of this issue is linked to the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which employs autopublish scripts to automate the creation of these malicious packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall ita-16If it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
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Workaround
As a workaround, you can manually delete the ita-16 package from your project by running the command: npm uninstall ita-16. Additionally, consider using a tool like Vulert to monitor your package-lock.json for any vulnerabilities in real-time.
Conclusion
The ita-16 package poses a significant security risk due to its malicious code that modifies package files and pollutes the npm registry. Users are advised to uninstall the package and monitor their dependencies for vulnerabilities using tools like Vulert.
See every vulnerability recorded for ita-16 →
FAQ
The ita-16 package is an npm package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, designed to automate the generation and publishing of derivative packages.
The ita-16 package modifies package.json files, removes private flags, changes version numbers, and generates random package names, leading to pollution of the npm registry.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by the ita-16 vulnerability without needing to sign up.
If you have the ita-16 package installed, you should uninstall it immediately using the command: npm uninstall ita-16.
Currently, there is no patched version available for the ita-16 package. It is recommended to remove the package entirely until a secure version is released.
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