@babel/runtime provides modular runtime helpers for Babel, enabling developers to use language features beyond what's natively supported in older JavaScript environments. Version 7.2.0 arrived on December 3, 2018, succeeding version 7.1.5, which was released on November 6, 2018. Both versions share the same core purpose: facilitating the execution of Babel-compiled code and the same dependency on regenerator-runtime. The key difference lies in the improvements and bug fixes incorporated into the newer version.
Version 7.2.0 introduces subtle refinements over 7.1.5, reflected in the increased file count (142 vs. 138) and unpacked size (77831 vs. 77139 bytes). These changes likely represent additions to the runtime helpers, potentially including optimizations or support for newly introduced Babel features. While they may not represent major API changes, they contribute to a more robust and feature-complete runtime environment.
Developers using Babel should adopt the latest stable version of @babel/runtime to benefit from the most up-to-date set of helpers and the resultant bug fixes. Upgrading from 7.1.5 to 7.2.0 helps ensure compatibility with recent Babel transformations and unlocks potential performance gains in generated code. Developers should consult the Babel changelog for details on the specific changes introduced in each version to ensure their code takes advantage of the new updates.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.2.0 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.