Malicious Code Injection in ronald-tea-archive Package
Summary
MAL-2025-108197: Malicious code in ronald-tea-archive (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The ronald-tea-archive package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been known to flood the npm ecosystem with various packages. This package is designed to facilitate the generation and publication of derivative packages that are intended to inflate developer reputation scores in exchange for tea protocol token rewards. However, it has been identified as containing malicious code that compromises the integrity of the npm registry.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the ronald-tea-archive package originates from its malicious payload, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This behavior leads to the continuous republishing of these variants, resulting in pollution of the npm registry. The ramifications of this vulnerability include potential reputational damage to developers and the risk of introducing insecure packages into projects that depend on this ecosystem.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall ronald-tea-archiveIf 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 manually remove the ronald-tea-archive package from your project by executing the following command: npm uninstall ronald-tea-archive. Additionally, consider using alternative packages that do not exhibit malicious behavior.
Conclusion
The ronald-tea-archive package poses a significant risk due to its malicious code that alters package metadata and floods the npm registry. It is crucial to remove this package from your projects and monitor for any vulnerabilities using tools like Vulert to maintain the security of your software.
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FAQ
The ronald-tea-archive package is part of a token reward campaign that generates and publishes derivative packages to inflate developer reputation scores.
The vulnerability can lead to the introduction of insecure packages and pollution of the npm registry, potentially compromising your project's integrity.
You should uninstall the ronald-tea-archive package immediately and monitor your project for any other affected packages.
Yes, you can use Vulert, which monitors and alerts for open-source vulnerabilities in your software using just the package-lock.json file.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected without requiring any signup.
Habilume
Habit tracker with a companion that grows with you
Complete habits, earn Lume Points, and watch your Lume grow as you stay consistent.
