Malicious Code Injection in rival-poke49 Package: A Threat to npm Ecosystem
Summary
MAL-2025-165032: Malicious code in rival-poke49 (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The rival-poke49 package is part of the npm ecosystem, which is widely used for JavaScript package management. This package, like many others, is intended to facilitate the development of applications by providing reusable code. However, it has been identified as part of a malicious campaign that aims to exploit the npm registry by generating and publishing numerous derivative packages with altered metadata. This behavior not only affects the integrity of the npm ecosystem but also poses a risk to developers who may unknowingly use these compromised packages.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the rival-poke49 package stems from its association with a malicious campaign that modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This results in the continuous republishing of these variants, which can lead to pollution of the npm registry and inflate developer reputation scores fraudulently. The malicious payload is designed to execute autopublish scripts that automate this process, making it difficult for developers to identify and avoid these compromised packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall rival-poke49If 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 avoid using the rival-poke49 package and look for alternative packages that provide similar functionality without the associated risks. Always verify the integrity and reputation of packages before installation.
Conclusion
The rival-poke49 package poses a significant risk to developers within the npm ecosystem due to its malicious behavior aimed at manipulating the npm registry. It is essential to take immediate action by uninstalling this package and monitoring your projects for vulnerabilities to maintain security and integrity.
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FAQ
The rival-poke49 package is an npm package that has been identified as part of a malicious campaign aimed at exploiting the npm registry.
Using the rival-poke49 package can lead to the introduction of malicious code into your project, compromising its security and integrity.
You should uninstall the rival-poke49 package immediately using the command npm uninstall rival-poke49.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json file to alert you in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without any signup.
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