[BUG] NPM audit command fail with Invalid Version error

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

This issue exists in the latest npm version

• I am using the latest npm

Current Behavior

When I run sudo npm audit fix it fails like so:

zaci_dev@b5268ab2ee19:/home/amk/appliance/src/zaci_sw/bcSW/bc-reactux/appliance-react-ui$ sudo npm audit fix
npm ERR! Invalid Version: ^5.2.0

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /root/.npm/_logs/2022-05-26T21_04_56_010Z-debug.log

Upon looking at the logs, this is what I get:

64 verbose stack TypeError: Invalid Version: ^5.2.0
64 verbose stack     at new SemVer (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/semver/classes/semver.js:38:13)
64 verbose stack     at compare (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/semver/functions/compare.js:3:32)
64 verbose stack     at Object.gte (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/semver/functions/gte.js:2:30)
64 verbose stack     at CanPlaceDep.checkCanPlaceCurrent (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/can-place-dep.js:173:51)
64 verbose stack     at CanPlaceDep.checkCanPlace (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/can-place-dep.js:157:27)
64 verbose stack     at new CanPlaceDep (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/can-place-dep.js:114:26)
64 verbose stack     at PlaceDep.place (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/place-dep.js:121:19)
64 verbose stack     at new PlaceDep (/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/place-dep.js:71:10)
64 verbose stack     at /usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:944:31
64 verbose stack     at Array.map (<anonymous>)
65 verbose cwd /home/amk/appliance/src/zaci_sw/bcSW/bc-reactux/appliance-react-ui
66 verbose Linux 5.4.0-86-generic
67 verbose argv "/usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "audit" "fix"
68 verbose node v16.13.2
69 verbose npm  v8.1.2
70 error Invalid Version: ^5.2.0

Expected Behavior

The command should try to fix vulnerabilities and if manual fix is needed. user should be informed in subsequent output.

Steps To Reproduce

1. In Ubuntu 20.04 on s390 machine
2. Using node v16.13.2 and npm v8.1.2
3. Run 'sudo npm audit fix'
4. See error mentioned above

Environment

• npm: 8.1.2
• Node.js: 16.13.2
• OS Name: Ubuntu 20.04 (Docker and Host)
• System Model Name: s390
• npm config:

zaci_dev@b5268ab2ee19:/home/amk/appliance/src/zaci_sw/bcSW/bc-reactux/appliance-react-ui$ sudo npm config ls
; node bin location = /usr/local/lib/nodejs/node-v16.13.2-linux-s390x/bin/node
; cwd = /home/amk/appliance/src/zaci_sw/bcSW/bc-reactux/appliance-react-ui
; HOME = /root

Reproduce npm audit fix with Node.js 16.13.2 and npm 8.1.2 on the reported s390 Ubuntu environment, then trace the stack through @npmcli/arborist/lib/can-place-dep.js, place-dep.js, and build-ideal-tree.js. Compare the semver call handling ^5.2.0; done means the command no longer aborts with Invalid Version and reports any manual fixes needed.