The massive amount of transitive dependencies is exactly the problem with regard to auditing them. There are successful businesses built solely around auditing project dependencies and alerting teams of security issues, and they make money at all because of the labor required to maintain this machine.

It’s not even a judgement call at this point. It’s more aligned with buckling your seatbelt, pointing your car off the road, closing your eyes, flooring it and hoping for a happy ending.