Malicious Code Injection in syahlan-poke16: A Threat to npm Packages
Summary
MAL-2025-166513: Malicious code in syahlan-poke16 (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 package 'syahlan-poke16' is part of a series of npm packages that emerged during the tea.xyz token reward campaign. These packages are designed to manipulate the npm registry by automatically generating and publishing derivative packages with randomized names. This behavior is intended to inflate developer reputation scores for token rewards, making the package a potential threat to the integrity of the npm ecosystem.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in 'syahlan-poke16' stems from its malicious payload, which modifies the package.json file to remove private flags, alters version numbers, and generates random package names. This allows the package to continuously republish variants, polluting the npm registry and potentially compromising other packages. The origin of this vulnerability is linked to the tea.xyz token reward campaign, which has been associated with a surge of malicious packages on npm.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall syahlan-poke16If 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 temporary workaround, you can avoid using the 'syahlan-poke16' package and monitor your project for any dependencies that may have been affected by this malicious package. You can also use the following command to check for vulnerabilities in your project: 'npm audit'.
Conclusion
The 'syahlan-poke16' package poses a significant threat due to its malicious behavior of modifying package.json files and republishing variants to the npm registry. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for vulnerabilities to maintain the integrity of their applications.
See every vulnerability recorded for syahlan-poke16 →
FAQ
The impact includes potential pollution of the npm registry and compromise of other packages, leading to security risks in applications that depend on them.
You can use tools like Vulert, which monitors and alerts for open-source vulnerabilities in real-time. Check your package-lock.json file with Vulert to see if your application is affected.
There is no patch available for this specific package. The recommended action is to uninstall the package entirely.
You should uninstall the package immediately and review your project for any dependencies that may have been affected.
Regularly audit your dependencies using 'npm audit', keep your packages updated, and consider using tools like Vulert for real-time monitoring.
