[BUG] 'v' prefix in package version causes incorrect arborist retirement

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

On some rare packages, npm seems to incorrectly re-install them when the timestamp of node_modules is updated and the second installation does not print "up to date" but "changed 1 package". The issue seems to be very specific to nano-memoize and I suspect their empty engines might have something to do with it.

Expected Behavior

Clone reproduction repo and try it:

git clone https://github.com/silverwind/nano-npm && cd nano-npm
rm -rf node_modules && npm i && touch node_modules && npm i

It should print

added 1 package in 97ms
up to date in 87ms

but it actually prints

added 1 package in 97ms
changed 1 package in 95ms

In the verbose log it can be seen that in the second run, there is a "retired":

npm info using npm@9.6.4
npm info using node@v19.8.1
npm verb title npm install
npm verb argv "install" "--no-save" "--loglevel" "silly"
npm verb logfile logs-max:0 dir:/Users/silverwind/.npm/_logs/2023-04-17T19_36_39_018Z-
npm verb logfile no logfile created
npm sill logfile done cleaning log files
npm sill idealTree buildDeps
npm sill reify moves {}
npm sill ADD node_modules/nano-memoize

added 1 package in 97ms
npm verb exit 0
npm info ok
npm verb cli /usr/local/Cellar/node/19.8.1/bin/node /Users/silverwind/.npm-global/bin/npm
npm info using npm@9.6.4
npm info using node@v19.8.1
npm verb title npm install
npm verb argv "install" "--no-save" "--loglevel" "silly"
npm verb logfile logs-max:0 dir:/Users/silverwind/.npm/_logs/2023-04-17T19_36_39_496Z-
npm verb logfile no logfile created
npm sill logfile done cleaning log files
npm sill idealTree buildDeps
npm verb shrinkwrap failed to load node_modules/.package-lock.json out of date, updated: node_modules
npm sill reify mark retired [ '/Users/silverwind/git/nano-npm/node_modules/nano-memoize' ]
npm sill reify moves {
npm sill reify   '/Users/silverwind/git/nano-npm/node_modules/nano-memoize': '/Users/silverwind/git/nano-npm/node_modules/.nano-memoize-mSgVARDY'
npm sill reify }
npm sill CHANGE node_modules/nano-memoize

changed 1 package in 95ms
npm verb exit 0
npm info ok

Steps To Reproduce

See above

Environment

See log output above.

Start by cloning the linked nano-npm reproduction repository and running the documented install sequence with verbose logging. Trace the second install around the out-of-date package-lock warning and the “reify mark retired” entry. Done means the reproduced package is not incorrectly retired and the second install reports “up to date” rather than “changed 1 package”.