Malicious Code Injection in lost_jay-smiletea: A Threat to npm Packages
Summary
MAL-2025-105326: Malicious code in lost_jay-smiletea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The 'lost_jay-smiletea' package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign that has infiltrated the npm ecosystem. It is designed to reward developers with tokens for publishing packages. However, this package has been identified as malicious, containing scripts that automatically generate and publish derivative packages with randomized names, aimed at inflating developer reputation scores.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability originates from the package's malicious code, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags and alters version numbers. It generates random package names, often themed around Indonesian culture, and continuously republishes these variants to pollute the npm registry. This can lead to a significant increase in spam packages, affecting the integrity of the npm ecosystem and potentially compromising user projects that depend on these packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall lost_jay-smileteaIf 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 'lost_jay-smiletea' package and replace it with a trusted alternative. Additionally, regularly audit your npm packages using 'npm audit' to identify and address vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
The 'lost_jay-smiletea' package poses a significant threat to the npm ecosystem due to its malicious code that modifies package files and generates spam packages. It is crucial for developers to remove this package from their projects and monitor for vulnerabilities using tools like Vulert.
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FAQ
It is a malicious npm package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, designed to inflate developer reputation scores.
The malicious code can lead to the proliferation of spam packages in your project, potentially compromising its integrity and security.
You should uninstall the package immediately and check your project for any references to it in your package-lock.json file.
Yes, you can use tools like Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time without requiring code access.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without any signup.
