Malicious Code Injection in rino-poke4: A Threat to npm Ecosystem
Summary
MAL-2025-164685: Malicious code in rino-poke4 (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
rino-poke4 is an npm package that is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign. It is designed to facilitate token rewards through various automated scripts. However, this package has been identified as malicious, containing scripts that manipulate its own metadata and publish numerous derivative packages to inflate developer reputation scores, ultimately polluting the npm registry.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability originates from the package's malicious intent to modify its own package.json file by removing private flags, altering version numbers, and generating random package names. This behavior leads to the continuous republishing of variants, which can clutter the npm registry and mislead developers into using potentially harmful packages. The malicious payload is part of a broader scheme to exploit the npm ecosystem for token rewards.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall rino-poke4If it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
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Workaround
As a temporary measure, avoid using the rino-poke4 package and monitor your project for any unintended dependencies that may have been introduced. Regularly audit your package-lock.json file to ensure no malicious packages are present.
Conclusion
The rino-poke4 package poses a significant threat to the npm ecosystem due to its malicious code that modifies package metadata and repopulates the registry with harmful variants. It is essential to remove this package from your projects and utilize tools like Vulert for ongoing vulnerability monitoring.
See every vulnerability recorded for rino-poke4 →
FAQ
rino-poke4 is an npm package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, designed to automate the generation and publication of derivative packages.
The vulnerability can lead to the introduction of malicious code into your project, potentially compromising its integrity and security.
You should uninstall the package immediately using the command 'npm uninstall rino-poke4' and check for any dependencies that may have been affected.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json file for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time without requiring code access or installation.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without any signup.
