coffe-script is malware

Description

The coffe-script package is a piece of malware that steals sensitive data such as a user's private SSH key and bash history, sending them to attacker controlled locations.

All versions have been unpublished from the npm registry.

Recommendation

If you have found coffe-script installed in your environment, you should:
1. Delete the package
2. Clear your npm cache
3. Ensure it is not present in any other package.json files on your system
4. Regenerate your SSH keys, registry credentials, tokens, and any other sensitive credentials that may have been present in your bash history.

Additionally, any service which may have been exposed via credentials in your bash history or accessible via your ssh keys, such as a database, should be reviewed for indicators of compromise as well.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2018-08-06 20:06:29 UTC
Updated
2023-09-07 18:25:01 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2020-06-16 21:41:58 UTC

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.26% 48.91%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.5 3.0
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-506 Embedded Malicious Code

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
npm coffe-script = 1.0.1

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence