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Malicious package

primatology-middleware-planckscale-installnpm

Advisory published Updated

primatology-middleware-planckscale-install is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2025-188818) that executes malicious code on install. Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in primatology-middleware-planckscale-install (npm)

MAL-2025-188818
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall primatology-middleware-planckscale-install

What this malware does

This package appears to be part of the tea.xyz token reward campaign that flooded npm. These packages typically contain autopublish scripts (auto.js, autopublish.js, autopublish2.js, autopublish3.js) designed to automatically generate and publish derivative packages with randomized names to inflate developer reputation scores for tea protocol token rewards. The malicious payload modifies package.json to remove private flags, changes version numbers, generates random Indonesian-themed package names (some variants are also in English), and continuously republishes variants to pollute the npm registry.

Malicious versions

all versions

Every published version of this package is considered malicious — remove it entirely.

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

3c06a16d39babc5b879b4fcd7ca4b45293e129f38f2eb2e9bbd4ee8da57d0a56

Detection & response playbook

Malicious package

  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for primatology-middleware-planckscale-install (all published versions).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    Remove primatology-middleware-planckscale-install from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.

  3. Did it already run?

    If primatology-middleware-planckscale-install was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.

Frequently asked questions

No. primatology-middleware-planckscale-install on npm has been identified as a malicious package (all published versions flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks primatology-middleware-planckscale-install-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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primatology-middleware-planckscale-install (npm) malicious package — MAL-2025-188818 | O3 Security