trace-mcp@3.17.1

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AI Security Review

scanned 2mo ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

The package has a concrete automatic persistence and self-update lifecycle, which is risky for an npm package. Its actions appear scoped to trace-mcp-owned resources and include update verification, so the source does not establish malicious intent or broader compromise.

Static reason

One or more suspicious static signals were detected.; source matched previously finalized malicious package; routed for review; previous stored version diff introduced dangerous source

Trigger

npm installation runs the postinstall script.

Impact

A package-owned background daemon can start without a separate user command, and an installed application bundle can be replaced.

Mechanism

Install-time launcher persistence and application self-update.

AI rationale

Evidence

package.jsonscripts/postinstall-control-plane.mjsscripts/postinstall-app.mjs~/.trace/launcher.env~/.trace/bin/trace~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.trace-mcp.server.plisttrace-mcp.app

Network endpoints1

api.github.com

Decision evidence

public snapshot

AI called this Suspicious at 90.0% confidence as Dangerous Capability with low false-positive risk.

Evidence for warning

The package runs three scripts automatically after installation.
The install hook creates a user launch agent that keeps a trace-mcp daemon running and starts it at load.
On macOS, installation can download a release archive and replace an installed trace-mcp application bundle.

Evidence against

The persistence is explicitly scoped to trace-mcp paths and its own launch-agent label.
The app updater requires a matching SHA-256 checksum before applying an update.
The hook provides opt-out environment variables and skips development checkouts.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNativeBindingsNetworkShellWebSocket

Supply chain

HighEntropyStringsUrlStrings

ManifestNo manifest risk signals triggered.

scanned 41 file(s), 1.18 MB of source, external domains: 127.0.0.1, analyticsdata.googleapis.com, api.github.com, feross.org, github.com, oauth2.googleapis.com, raw.githubusercontent.com, registry.npmjs.org, schema.org, trace-mcp.com, wiki.debian.org, www.apple.com, www.googleapis.com

Source & flagged code

15 flagged

package.jsonView file

Lines 10-50json

10 "trace": "dist/cli.js",

11 "trace-mcp": "dist/cli.js"

12 },

13 "scripts": {

14 "build": "tsup",

15 "dev": "tsup --watch",

16 "test": "vitest run",

17 "test:watch": "vitest",

18 "test:recall": "vitest run tests/recall-harness/recall.test.ts",

19 "test:recall:report": "tsx tests/recall-harness/runner.ts",

20 "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",

21 "lint": "tsc --noEmit",

22 "format": "biome format --write",

23 "format:check": "biome format",

24 "biome:ci": "biome ci",

25 "serve": "tsx src/cli.ts serve",

26 "count:tools": "node scripts/count-advertised-tools.mjs",

27 "replay:check": "tsx scripts/replay-eval.ts",

28 "replay:update-baseline": "tsx scripts/replay-eval.ts --update-baseline",

29 "bench:state-replay": "tsx scripts/state-trace-replay.ts",

30 "postinstall": "node scripts/preflight-native.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-app.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-control-plane.mjs",

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L30

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L30

31 "prepublishOnly": "pnpm run build",

32 "prepare": "simple-git-hooks",

33 "docs:sitemap": "node scripts/gen-sitemap.mjs && node scripts/gen-llms-full.mjs",

34 "docs:language-matrix": "tsx scripts/language-matrix.ts",

35 "docs:tools-index": "tsx scripts/tools-index.ts",

36 "docs:config-index": "tsx scripts/config-index.ts",

37 "gen:tz-country": "node scripts/gen-tz-country.mjs"

38 },

39 "simple-git-hooks": {

40 "pre-commit": "pnpm exec lint-staged"

41 },

42 "lint-staged": {

43 "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx,mjs,cjs,json,jsonc,css}": [

44 "biome check --write --no-errors-on-unmatched"

45 ]

46 },

47 "engines": {

48 "node": ">=22.0.0"

49 },

50 "packageManager": "pnpm@10.33.0",

scripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjsView file

Lines 5-45javascript

5 *

6 * Everything else that guards the updater asserts against a mock: the GitHub

7 * API is stubbed, the "bundle" is a fixture directory. That is what let TRA-357

8 * through — the code read correctly and shipped, and five real upgrades

scripts/verify-win-update.mjsView file

Lines 121-161javascript

121 .split('\n')

122 .filter(Boolean)

123 .map((line) => {

124 try {

125 return

scripts/bench-name-tokens.tsView file

Lines 28-68typescript

28import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';

29import { join } from 'node:path';

30import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';

31import { TRACE_MCP_ROUTING_BLOCK } from '../src/init/md-block.js';

scripts/capture-screenshots.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1View file

390// six grey placeholders is exactly the failure this pipeline exists to avoid. L391: const dashboard = `http://127.0.0.1:${DEMO_DAEMON_PORT}/api/dashboard`; L392: await fetch(`${dashboard}/refresh`, { method: "POST" }); ... L402: * The guard"s health comes from a heartbeat an attached agent session writes.\n * A capture has no agent, so without this the showcase screenshot ships a red\n * \"Not running\" ba... L403: * policy") — the window comes up blank. Assigning `location.href` inside the\n * document keeps the app's own file origin, exactly as the main process does.\n */\nasync function na... L404: return;

High

Same File Env Network Execution

A single source file combines environment access, network access, and code or shell execution; review context before blocking.

scripts/capture-screenshots.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1View on unpkg · L390

390// six grey placeholders is exactly the failure this pipeline exists to avoid. L391: const dashboard = `http://127.0.0.1:${DEMO_DAEMON_PORT}/api/dashboard`; L392: await fetch(`${dashboard}/refresh`, { method: "POST" }); ... L401: /** L402: * The guard"s health comes from a heartbeat an attached agent session writes.\n * A capture has no agent, so without this the showcase screenshot ships a red\n * \"Not running\" ba... L403: * policy") — the window comes up blank. Assigning `location.href` inside the\n * document keeps the app's own file origin, exactly as the main process does.\n */\nasync function na... L404: return;

High

Command Output Exfiltration

Source combines command execution, command-output handling, and outbound requests; review data flow before blocking.

scripts/capture-screenshots.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1View on unpkg · L390

hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.shView file

•path = hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 7711 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Ships Build Helper

Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files.

hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.shView on unpkg

dist/index.jsView file

•path = dist/index.js kind = oversized_source_file sizeBytes = 10893438 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Oversized Source File

Package contains source files above the normal full-analysis size ceiling.

dist/index.jsView on unpkg

dist/cli.jsView file

•path = dist/cli.js kind = oversized_cli_entrypoint sizeBytes = 12299863 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Oversized Cli Entrypoint

Package contains an oversized executable-looking CLI entrypoint.

dist/cli.jsView on unpkg

scripts/calibrate-health-metrics.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1View file

•stage = ast_semantic_analysis; reason = ast_parse_error; limitedFiles = 4

High

Semantic Analysis Limited

A bounded semantic-analysis stage reached its safety limit; remaining detectors completed, but this package requires AI review.

scripts/calibrate-health-metrics.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1View on unpkg

scripts/capture-screenshots.mjsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = trace-mcp@3.8.0 matchedPath = scripts/capture-screenshots.mjs matchedIdentity = npm:dHJhY2UtbWNw:3.8.0 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

scripts/capture-screenshots.mjsView on unpkg

scripts/count-advertised-tools.mjsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = trace-mcp@3.8.0 matchedPath = scripts/count-advertised-tools.mjs matchedIdentity = npm:dHJhY2UtbWNw:3.8.0 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

scripts/count-advertised-tools.mjsView on unpkg

scripts/gen-readme-banner.mjsView file

•matchType = previous_version_dangerous_delta matchedPackage = trace-mcp@3.15.0 matchedIdentity = npm:dHJhY2UtbWNw:3.15.0 similarity = 0.852 summary = stored previous version shares package body but lacks this dangerous source file

Critical

Previous Version Dangerous Delta

This package version adds a dangerous source file absent from the previous stored version; route for source-aware review.

scripts/gen-readme-banner.mjsView on unpkg

Source & flagged code

15 flagged · loading source

package.jsonView file

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/preflight-native.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-app.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-control-plane.mjs

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/preflight-native.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-app.mjs && node scripts/postinstall-control-plane.mjs

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg

scripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjsView file

25L26: import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process'; L27: import fs from 'node:fs';

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

scripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjsView on unpkg · L25

Findings

1 Critical9 High8 Medium5 Low

CriticalPrevious Version Dangerous Deltascripts/gen-readme-banner.mjs

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

HighChild Processscripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjs

HighShellscripts/verify-win-update.mjs

HighSame File Env Network Executionscripts/capture-screenshots.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1

HighCommand Output Exfiltrationscripts/capture-screenshots.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1

HighSandbox Evasion Gated Capabilityscripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjs

HighSemantic Analysis Limitedscripts/calibrate-health-metrics.mjs#virtual:normalized:round1

HighKnown Malware Source Similarityscripts/capture-screenshots.mjs

HighKnown Malware Source Similarityscripts/count-advertised-tools.mjs

Affected versions and remediation

This report applies to trace-mcp@3.17.1.

See all versions of trace-mcp for other recorded verdicts.

Review the evidence and your use of trace-mcp@3.17.1 before allowing it. Restrict the permissions described in this report.
Choose an independently verified alternative or release. This report does not establish that other versions are safe.

Evidence last updated: 2026-09-05 00:28:31.380Z (UTC).

Think this verdict is wrong? Dispute it on GitHub or read how reports are produced.

AI Security Review

Decision evidence

Source & flagged code

Source & flagged code

Findings

Affected versions and remediation

Runtime surface

Behavioral surface

Source & flagged code