@babel/runtime is a crucial package for Babel users, providing modular runtime helpers that enable efficient and compatible code transformation. Comparing versions 7.10.3 and 7.10.2 reveals subtle but important changes. Both versions share the same core dependency on regenerator-runtime version ^0.13.4 for generator function support and the same development dependency on @babel/helpers version ^7.10.1, indicating a consistent approach to handling asynchronous code and Babel's internal tooling for helper generation. The license remains MIT, ensuring broad usability.
The key difference lies in the release date and the unpacked size. Version 7.10.3 was released on June 19, 2020, while version 7.10.2 was released on May 30, 2020, suggesting that 7.10.3 incorporates bug fixes, performance improvements, or small feature enhancements implemented during that period. A slight reduction in the unpacked size of version 7.10.3 (99814 bytes versus 99840 bytes for 7.10.2) further indicates that some optimization or code cleanup may have occurred. Developers should usually opt for the latest stable version (7.10.3 in this case) to benefit from these potential refinements. The consistent dependency structure implies a stable API, minimizing breaking changes between the revisions. By using @babel/runtime developers ensure their transformed code runs smoothly across different environments.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.10.3 of the package
Babel has inefficient RegExp complexity in generated code with .replace when transpiling named capturing groups
When using Babel to compile regular expression named capturing groups, Babel will generate a polyfill for the .replace method that has quadratic complexity on some specific replacement pattern strings (i.e. the second argument passed to .replace).
Your generated code is vulnerable if all the following conditions are true:
.replace method on a regular expression that contains named capturing groups.replaceIf you are using @babel/preset-env with the targets option, the transform that injects the vulnerable code is automatically enabled if:
You can verify what transforms @babel/preset-env is using by enabling the debug option.
This problem has been fixed in @babel/helpers and @babel/runtime 7.26.10 and 8.0.0-alpha.17, please upgrade. It's likely that you do not directly depend on @babel/helpers, and instead you depend on @babel/core (which itself depends on @babel/helpers). Upgrading to @babel/core 7.26.10 is not required, but it guarantees that you are on a new enough @babel/helpers version.
Please note that just updating your Babel dependencies is not enough: you will also need to re-compile your code.
If you are passing user-provided strings as the second argument of .replace on regular expressions that contain named capturing groups, validate the input and make sure it does not contain the substring $< if it's then not followed by > (possibly with other characters in between).
This vulnerability was reported and fixed in https://github.com/babel/babel/pull/17173.