Malicious Code Injection in wulan-38 Package - npm Vulnerability
Summary
MAL-2025-170563: Malicious code in wulan-38 (npm). Affected versions are not published. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
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Background
The wulan-38 package is part of the npm ecosystem and is associated with the tea.xyz token reward campaign. This package is designed to facilitate the automatic generation and publication of derivative packages, which can inflate developer reputation scores in exchange for token rewards. However, it has been identified as containing malicious scripts that compromise its integrity.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in the wulan-38 package originates from its inclusion in a campaign that floods the npm registry with malicious packages. These packages contain scripts that modify the package.json file by removing private flags, altering version numbers, and generating random package names. The scripts continuously republish these variants, leading to pollution of the npm registry and potential security risks for developers using these packages.
How To Fix
This package is malicious. Remove it and rotate any credentials it could have accessed.
npm uninstall wulan-38
If 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 prevent the installation of the wulan-38 package by using npm's package-lock.json to monitor dependencies. Ensure that your project does not include this package by checking your package.json and removing any references to it.
Conclusion
The wulan-38 package poses a significant security risk due to its malicious code that modifies package files and repopulates the npm registry with harmful variants. It is crucial for developers to remove this package and monitor their projects for vulnerabilities to maintain security.
See every vulnerability recorded for wulan-38 →
FAQ
The wulan-38 package is an npm package that is part of a token reward campaign and is designed to automatically generate and publish derivative packages.
The vulnerability can lead to the pollution of the npm registry and may compromise your project's integrity by introducing malicious code.
You should remove the wulan-38 package from your project and check for any malicious changes it may have made to your package.json file.
Yes, you can use Vulert, which monitors and alerts for open-source vulnerabilities in your software using just package-lock.json. You can check if your application is affected by this vulnerability using the Vulert playground.
Regularly update your dependencies, monitor for vulnerabilities using tools like Vulert, and avoid using packages from untrusted sources.