The 404 Not Found error that the NPM client experiences is most likely the result of a communication issue with Xray.
Artifactory calls JFrog Xray when an "npm audit" is requested. In most cases, if Xray is offline or unable to scan these packages, a 404 Not Found would result.
The error should look something like that:
npm WARN audit 404 Not Found - POST https://<URL>/artifactory/api/npm/npm-virtual/-/npm/v1/security/audits/quick Failed to fetch audit report for repo npm-virtual. status: 404 cause: Audit request cannot be served from cache. npm ERR! audit endpoint returned an errorIf this error occurs, make sure Xray is functional and capable of scanning the packages.