VulnerabilityPublished 15 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-59142: Qix- color-string · Embedded Malicious Code

Affects Qix- color-stringSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High · fixed in 2.1.2 : patch Qix- color-string soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 34% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.1.2

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Red

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Threat metrics

Exploit Maturity: Attacked

Supplemental metrics

Provider Urgency: Red

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Exploit Maturity: Attacked: Based on threat intelligence sources either of the following must apply: · Attacks targeting this vulnerability (attempted or successful) have been reported · Solutions to simplify attempts to exploit the vulnerability are publicly or privately available (such as exploit toolkits)
Provider Urgency: Red: Provider has assessed the impact of this vulnerability as having the highest urgency.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Sep 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Qix- color-string	Affected =2.1.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this threat, European organizations should: 1) Immediately audit all frontend projects to identify any usage of 'color-string' version 2.1.1, especially in browser-targeted bundles. 2) Rebuild all affected frontend bundles using the patched version 2.1.2 or later to purge the malicious code. 3) Clear caches in private npm registries and CI/CD pipelines to prevent inadvertent reuse of the compromised package. 4) Implement strict supply chain security measures such as package signing verification, integrity checks (e.g., using npm’s 'integrity' field), and monitoring for unexpected package updates. 5) Educate development teams on phishing risks to prevent credential compromise of publishing accounts. 6) Employ runtime monitoring in browser environments to detect suspicious wallet transaction redirections or anomalies. 7) Coordinate with security teams to review incident response plans for supply chain attacks and ensure rapid patch deployment capabilities. 8) Consider adopting tools that provide automated dependency vulnerability scanning and alerting to catch similar threats early.

Description

color-string is a parser and generator for CSS color strings. On 8 September 2025, the npm publishing account for color-string was taken over after a phishing attack. Version 2.1.1 was published, functionally identical to the previous patch version, but with a malware payload added attempting to redirect cryptocurrency transactions to the attacker's own addresses from within browser environments. Local environments, server environments, command line applications, etc.are not affected. If the package was used in a browser context (e.g.a direct <script> inclusion, or via a bundling tool such as Babel, Rollup, Vite, Next.js, etc.) there is a chance the malware still exists and such bundles will need to be rebuilt. The malware seemingly only targets cryptocurrency transactions and wallets such as MetaMask.npm removed the offending package from the registry over the course of the day on 8 September. On 13 September, the package owner published new patch versions to help cache-bust those using private registries who might still have the compromised version cached. This issue has been resolved in 2.1.2.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, particularly for those involved in fintech, cryptocurrency services, e-commerce platforms accepting crypto payments, and any web applications that integrate the 'color-string' package in browser environments. The malware’s ability to silently redirect cryptocurrency transactions compromises the integrity and confidentiality of financial operations, potentially leading to direct financial losses and reputational damage. Organizations relying on frontend JavaScript bundles that include 'color-string' version 2.1.1 risk exposure to theft of digital assets from users interacting with compromised web applications. This could undermine trust in digital payment systems and complicate regulatory compliance with European data protection and financial security standards. Additionally, the supply chain nature of the attack highlights risks in software development practices, emphasizing the need for stringent package management and verification processes. While server-side and local environments are not affected, the widespread use of npm packages in frontend development means many European organizations could be indirectly impacted if they have not updated or rebuilt their browser bundles after the incident.

CWE-506Embedded Malicious Code (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A08:2025: Software or Data Integrity Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product contains code that appears to be malicious in nature.
Implementation · Operation
Remove the malicious code and start an effort to ensure that no more malicious code exists. This may require a detailed review of all code, as it is possible to hide a serious attack in only one or two lines of code.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Software Supply Chain Security (opens in a new tab)
Infrastructure as Code (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Infected Software (opens in a new tab)
Embed Virus into DLL (opens in a new tab)
Hiding Malicious Data or Code within Files (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Sep 2025, 19:20 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-506

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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