Malicious Code Injection in rrubhk-devapptea Package
Summary
MAL-2025-108226: Malicious code in rrubhk-devapptea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
Check if this vulnerability affects your application
Upload a manifest or SBOM and we'll show whether you're affected, plus every other risky package in the same scan.
No signup required · Results in about 60 seconds
Background
The rrubhk-devapptea package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been known to flood the npm registry with various packages. This package is designed to facilitate the generation and publication of derivative packages that can inflate developer reputation scores in exchange for tea protocol token rewards. However, it has been identified as containing malicious scripts that compromise its integrity.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the rrubhk-devapptea package stems from its inclusion of autopublish 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, which pollutes the npm registry and can potentially harm other developers by inflating reputation scores fraudulently. The malicious payload can also lead to unintended consequences for applications that depend on this package, including security risks and instability.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall rrubhk-devappteaIf it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
Tip — Not sure whether your app is affected? Vulert can check the versions your app actually runs. Scan free →
Workaround
As a workaround, you can temporarily avoid using the rrubhk-devapptea package by removing it from your project and replacing it with a trusted alternative. Additionally, you can monitor your package-lock.json file for any changes that may indicate the presence of malicious packages using tools like Vulert.
Conclusion
The rrubhk-devapptea package has been identified as containing malicious code that can compromise the integrity of applications relying on it. It is crucial to remove this package and monitor your dependencies for any vulnerabilities. Utilizing tools like Vulert can help ensure your project remains secure.
See every vulnerability recorded for rrubhk-devapptea →
FAQ
The rrubhk-devapptea package is part of a campaign that generates and publishes derivative npm packages to inflate developer reputation scores for token rewards.
The vulnerability can lead to security risks, instability, and pollution of the npm registry, potentially affecting other developers and applications relying on these packages.
You should uninstall the rrubhk-devapptea package immediately and check for any dependencies that may rely on it.
Yes, you can use tools like Vulert, which monitors your package-lock.json file for vulnerabilities in real-time without requiring code access or installation.
You can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability without signing up.
