@babel/runtime version 7.14.8 is a subsequent release to version 7.14.6, both providing Babel's modular runtime helpers crucial for supporting modern JavaScript features in older environments. Both versions share the same core purpose: enabling developers to use the latest JavaScript syntax without compromising compatibility. They both depend on regenerator-runtime version "^0.13.4", indicating a shared foundation for handling asynchronous functions using generators. Examining the provided data, the key difference lies primarily in their release dates and potentially bug fixes or minor improvements introduced between June 14th, 2021 (7.14.6) and July 20th, 2021 (7.14.8).
For developers, this means upgrading to 7.14.8 from 7.14.6 is likely a low-risk update, potentially incorporating important bug fixes or performance tweaks that enhance the overall stability and reliability of their Babel-compiled code. Crucially, the fileCount (181) and unpackedSize (143666) are identical, suggesting no major additions or removals in terms of features or included files. If you're using @babel/runtime in your project, keeping it up-to-date ensures you benefit from the latest improvements and mitigations, especially if you encountered any issues in version 7.14.6. The MIT license allows for flexible usage in various projects.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.14.8 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.