Malicious Code Injection in relative_toucan-smiletea Package
Summary
MAL-2025-107844: Malicious code in relative_toucan-smiletea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The relative_toucan-smiletea package is part of the npm ecosystem and is associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. This package is designed to facilitate the generation and publication of derivative packages, which are often used to inflate developer reputation scores for token rewards. However, it has been identified as containing malicious code that compromises its integrity and the security of applications that depend on it.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the relative_toucan-smiletea 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 is intended to continuously republish variants of the package, polluting the npm registry and potentially affecting other developers and applications. The origin of this vulnerability is linked to a campaign that floods npm with such malicious packages, making it crucial for developers to be aware of the risks associated with using this package.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall relative_toucan-smileteaIf 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 avoid using the relative_toucan-smiletea package altogether. If it is already included in your project, you can remove it using the command: npm uninstall relative_toucan-smiletea.
Conclusion
The relative_toucan-smiletea package poses a significant security risk due to its malicious code that modifies package files and repopulates the npm registry with harmful variants. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for vulnerabilities using tools like Vulert.
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FAQ
It is an npm package that is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign, designed to generate and publish derivative packages.
The malicious code can modify your package.json file and republish variants, potentially leading to security risks and pollution of the npm registry.
You should uninstall the relative_toucan-smiletea package immediately to mitigate any risks associated with its malicious behavior.
Yes, you can use Vulert, which monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities using just your package-lock.json file.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check for vulnerabilities in your application without requiring any signup.
