npm always fails with error 235 in Ubuntu Oracular

[ajkessel]

I've run npm for years without problem but it recently started failing silently with error code 235. I did recently update from Ubuntu Noble to Ubuntu Oracular but I'm not sure if that's a coincidence.

I've tried purging and reinstalling all node/npm packages. I've tried the default Ubuntu packages as well as the nodesource ppa. I've tried various versions from snap. I've tried a local nvm install. In every case, the result is the same, npm returns nothing other than an error code 235.

node itself runs fine, reports v23.1.0.

I've googled unsuccessfully for error code 235. Not sure what else to do to debug/troubleshoot.

Any tips?