Malicious Code Injection in old_hawk-smiletea Package - npm Vulnerability
Summary
MAL-2025-106716: Malicious code in old_hawk-smiletea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The old_hawk-smiletea package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been known to flood the npm ecosystem with malicious packages. These packages are designed to manipulate developer reputation scores through automated publishing scripts, which generate derivative packages with randomized names. This behavior not only affects the integrity of the npm registry but also poses a risk to developers who may unknowingly use these compromised packages.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the old_hawk-smiletea package stems from its inclusion in a malicious campaign that modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This allows the package to continuously republish variants, polluting the npm registry and potentially leading to reputation damage for developers and security risks for applications relying on these packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall old_hawk-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 old_hawk-smiletea package altogether and look for alternative packages that provide similar functionality without the associated risks.
Conclusion
The old_hawk-smiletea package presents a significant security risk due to its malicious behavior of modifying package files and republishing variants. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for vulnerabilities to maintain the integrity and security of their applications.
See every vulnerability recorded for old_hawk-smiletea →
FAQ
The old_hawk-smiletea package is part of a malicious campaign that floods the npm registry with automated scripts designed to inflate developer reputation scores.
Using the old_hawk-smiletea package can compromise your application's integrity, lead to reputation damage, and expose your project to security risks.
You should remove the old_hawk-smiletea package from your project immediately and check for any alternative packages that are secure.
Yes, you can use Vulert, which monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities in your software using just package-lock.json.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without requiring any signup.
