Malicious Code Injection in Surviving Magpie-Smiletea Package
Summary
MAL-2025-109362: Malicious code in surviving_magpie-smiletea (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The Surviving Magpie-Smiletea package is part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been associated with the proliferation of malicious npm packages. These packages are designed to inflate developer reputation scores through automated publishing of derivative packages. The malicious behavior of this package involves modifying its own metadata to remove privacy flags and continuously republishing variants to pollute the npm registry.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability originates from the package's design to include autopublish scripts that generate and publish numerous derivative packages with randomized names. This behavior not only compromises the integrity of the npm registry but also poses a risk to developers who may unknowingly install these malicious packages. The payload modifies the package.json file, removing private flags and altering version numbers, which can lead to security breaches and reputation damage for developers.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall surviving_magpie-smileteaIf it arrived as a transitive dependency, remove the package that pulled it in, then reinstall.
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Workaround
As a temporary workaround, avoid using the Surviving Magpie-Smiletea package and monitor your project for any dependencies that may have been affected by this malicious package. Regularly check your package-lock.json file for any unexpected changes.
Conclusion
The Surviving Magpie-Smiletea package presents a significant security risk due to its malicious code designed to manipulate npm registry data. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for any vulnerabilities to maintain security and integrity.
See every vulnerability recorded for surviving_magpie-smiletea →
FAQ
It is an npm package associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign, known for publishing malicious variants to inflate developer reputation.
The vulnerability can lead to the installation of malicious packages, compromising your project's security and integrity.
You should uninstall the package immediately using 'npm uninstall surviving_magpie-smiletea' and check for any other affected dependencies.
Yes, you can use Vulert to monitor your project for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time by analyzing your package-lock.json file.
Yes, you can use the Vulert playground at Vulert Scanner to check for vulnerabilities without requiring an account.
