registry / Persistence / trace-mcp / 3.22.0

trace-mcp@3.22.0

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AI Security Review

scanned 2mo ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

This is a real, automatic lifecycle attack surface rather than a scanner-only signal. The behavior is package-aligned but still dangerous because it persists a daemon and replaces executable application code from a mutable remote release channel.

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 postinstall, including a global installation or upgrade

Impact

A package installation can start software on login and replace local application code with a network-fetched release outside the npm artifact.

Mechanism

Lifecycle-driven persistence and remote application replacement

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 94.0% confidence as Dangerous Capability with low false-positive risk.

Evidence for warning

The automatic postinstall chain runs two scripts that alter user-level state.
On macOS, postinstall writes and bootstraps a persistent LaunchAgent with RunAtLoad and KeepAlive.
The installer fetches a latest GitHub release and replaces installed application bundles with its downloaded archive.
The checksum is downloaded from the same release source as the archive, so it does not establish an independent trust boundary.

Evidence against

The remote update path is limited to macOS and targets trace-mcp application bundles.
The code has opt-out environment variables and checks a daemon-disabled marker.
No credential harvesting or secret exfiltration was found in the inspected lifecycle scripts.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNativeBindingsNetworkShellWebSocket

Supply chain

Source & flagged code

16 flagged

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

dist/proxy.jsView file

26540// src/daemon/lifecycle.ts L26541: import { execSync, execFileSync, spawn } from "child_process"; L26542: import fs11 from "fs";

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

dist/proxy.jsView on unpkg · L26540

2474function hasPreloadFlags() { L2475: const execArgv = process.execArgv; L2476: for (let i = 0; i < execArgv.length; i++) {

High

Shell

Package source references shell execution.

dist/proxy.jsView on unpkg · L2474

2import { createRequire as __tmcpCreateRequire } from 'node:module'; L3: const require = __tmcpCreateRequire(import.meta.url); L4: var __create = Object.create;

Medium

Dynamic Require

Package source references dynamic require/import behavior.

dist/proxy.jsView on unpkg · L2

1103for (var i = 0; i < flen; ) { L1104: if (f.charCodeAt(i) === 37 && i + 1 < flen) { L1105: lastPos = lastPos > -1 ? lastPos : 0; ... L1338: fsWriteSync = () => fs16.writeSync(this.fd, this._writingBuf); L1339: fsWrite = () => fs16.write(this.fd, this._writingBuf, this.release); L1340: } else if (contentMode === void 0 || contentMode === kContentModeUtf8) { ... L1903: L1904: // node_modules/.pnpm/thread-stream@4.0.0/node_modules/thread-stream/package.json L1905: var require_package = __commonJS({ ... L1943: type: "git", L1944: url: "git+https://github.com/mcollina/thread-stream.git" L1945: },

Medium

Install Persistence

Source writes installer persistence such as shell profile or service configuration.

dist/proxy.jsView on unpkg · L1103

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

scripts/verify-upgrade-path.mjsView file

25L26: import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process'; L27: import fs from 'node:fs'; ... L34: L35: if (process.platform !== 'darwin') { L36: console.log('skip: macOS only'); ... L48: const repoRoot = path.resolve(new URL('..', import.meta.url).pathname); L49: const expected = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(repoRoot, 'package.json'), 'utf-8')).version; L50: ... L62: try { L63: const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com/repos/${REPO}/releases?per_page=10`, { L64: headers: { 'User-Agent': 'trace-mcp' },

High

Sandbox Evasion Gated Capability

Source gates dangerous network, credential, or execution behavior behind CI, host, platform, time, or geo fingerprint checks.

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

hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.shView file

•path = hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 8298 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Ships Build Helper

Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files.

hooks/trace-mcp-reindex.shView on unpkg

dist/snapshot-backend.jsView file

•path = dist/snapshot-backend.js kind = oversized_source_file sizeBytes = 10971545 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Oversized Source File

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

dist/snapshot-backend.jsView on unpkg

dist/cli.jsView file

•path = dist/cli.js kind = oversized_cli_entrypoint sizeBytes = 12645150 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Oversized Cli Entrypoint

Package contains an oversized executable-looking CLI entrypoint.

dist/cli.jsView on unpkg

scripts/bench-response-tokens.ts#virtual:normalized:round1View file

•stage = ast_semantic_analysis; reason = ast_parse_error; limitedFiles = 6

High

Semantic Analysis Limited

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

scripts/bench-response-tokens.ts#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/postinstall-app.mjsView file

•matchType = previous_version_dangerous_delta matchedPackage = trace-mcp@3.17.1 matchedIdentity = npm:dHJhY2UtbWNw:3.17.1 similarity = 0.683 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/postinstall-app.mjsView on unpkg

Source & flagged code

16 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

dist/proxy.jsView file

26540// src/daemon/lifecycle.ts L26541: import { execSync, execFileSync, spawn } from "child_process"; L26542: import fs11 from "fs";

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

dist/proxy.jsView on unpkg · L26540

Findings

1 Critical9 High9 Medium5 Low

CriticalPrevious Version Dangerous Deltascripts/postinstall-app.mjs

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

HighChild Processdist/proxy.js

HighShelldist/proxy.js

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/bench-response-tokens.ts#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@3.22.0.

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

Review the evidence and your use of trace-mcp@3.22.0 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: 2026-09-07 09:54:29.407Z (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