Malicious Code Injection in rita-91 Package: A Threat to npm Users
Summary
MAL-2025-164968: Malicious code in rita-91 (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The rita-91 package is part of the npm ecosystem and is associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. It is designed to facilitate the generation and publication of derivative packages. However, this package has been identified as malicious, containing scripts that manipulate package metadata and publish numerous variants to inflate developer reputation scores.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the rita-91 package stems from its inclusion in a campaign that floods the npm registry with malicious packages. The package contains scripts that 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 variants, polluting the npm registry and potentially compromising the integrity of other packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall rita-91If 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 prevent the installation of the rita-91 package by adding it to your project's .npmrc file with the following line: 'package-lock=false'. This will help avoid any unintended installations of this malicious package.
Conclusion
The rita-91 package poses a significant threat to npm users due to its malicious behavior of modifying package metadata and flooding the npm registry. It is crucial to remove this package from your projects and monitor for any updates or patches to ensure the security of your applications.
See every vulnerability recorded for rita-91 →
FAQ
The rita-91 package is an npm package that has been identified as part of a malicious campaign aimed at inflating developer reputation scores through the publication of numerous derivative packages.
The vulnerability can lead to the pollution of the npm registry, potentially compromising the integrity of your project and other packages that depend on it.
You should remove the rita-91 package from your project immediately and monitor for any updates or patches that may be released.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities in your software using just the package-lock.json file.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without requiring any signup.
