Malicious Code Injection in rising_sloth_z3n: A Threat to npm Ecosystem
Summary
MAL-2025-90226: Malicious code in rising_sloth_z3n (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The package 'rising_sloth_z3n' is part of the npm ecosystem, which is widely used for JavaScript package management. This package has been identified as part of a malicious campaign that aims to exploit the npm registry by generating numerous derivative packages with random names. The primary functionality of this package is to participate in token reward schemes, which unfortunately has led to its misuse for malicious purposes.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in 'rising_sloth_z3n' originates from its involvement in the tea.xyz token reward campaign. It contains scripts that automatically modify the package.json file to remove private flags, alter version numbers, and generate random package names. This behavior leads to the continuous republishing of these variants, which pollutes the npm registry and can potentially harm developers' reputations and the integrity of the npm ecosystem.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall rising_sloth_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 monitor your project for any unintended changes to your package.json file and revert them if necessary. Additionally, consider using tools like Vulert to monitor your application for vulnerabilities. You can check if your application is affected by this vulnerability using the Vulert playground at https://vulert.com/scanner without any signup.
Conclusion
The 'rising_sloth_z3n' 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 crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for any vulnerabilities to maintain the integrity of their applications.
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FAQ
The 'rising_sloth_z3n' package is an npm package that has been identified as part of a malicious campaign to exploit the npm registry.
This vulnerability can lead to the pollution of the npm registry, potentially harming your project's reputation and introducing security risks.
Currently, there is no patched version available for the 'rising_sloth_z3n' package.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json file for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time.
You should uninstall the 'rising_sloth_z3n' package immediately and check for any dependencies that may be affected.
