Malicious Code Injection in Payable Horse Z3N Package
Summary
MAL-2025-107002: Malicious code in payable_horse_z3n (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The 'payable_horse_z3n' package is part of the npm ecosystem and is associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. This package is designed to facilitate token rewards by generating and publishing derivative packages. However, it has been identified as containing malicious code that compromises its integrity and the security of applications using it.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the 'payable_horse_z3n' package originates from its design to automatically generate and publish derivative packages with randomized names. This malicious behavior includes modifying the package.json file to remove private flags, changing version numbers, and continuously republishing variants to pollute the npm registry. The ramifications include potential exposure of sensitive data, increased risk of dependency confusion attacks, and overall degradation of the npm ecosystem.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall payable_horse_z3nIf 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 remove the 'payable_horse_z3n' package from your project by executing 'npm uninstall payable_horse_z3n'. This will prevent any malicious code from executing while you assess your dependencies.
Conclusion
The 'payable_horse_z3n' package has been identified as containing malicious code that poses significant risks to applications using it. It is crucial to update or remove this package to protect your application from potential threats. Utilizing tools like Vulert can help monitor and manage vulnerabilities effectively.
See every vulnerability recorded for payable_horse_z3n →
FAQ
It is an npm package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, designed to generate and publish derivative packages.
The vulnerability can lead to the exposure of sensitive data and increase the risk of dependency confusion attacks.
Check the npm registry for any updated versions of the 'payable_horse_z3n' package that may contain security patches.
You can use Vulert, which monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities using just package-lock.json. Visit Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected.
As a temporary measure, you can uninstall the 'payable_horse_z3n' package to mitigate the risk until a secure version is available.
