@babel/runtime version 7.22.15 represents a minor update to the core Babel runtime library, succeeding version 7.22.11. Both versions are described as providing Babel's modular runtime helpers, crucial for enabling modern JavaScript features in environments that may not natively support them. While the core functionality remains consistent, as indicated by identical descriptions and the shared dependency on regenerator-runtime, subtle changes are present indicating that version 7.22.15 incorporates fixes or refinements addressing specific edge cases or compatibility issues. Notably, both releases maintain the same number of files (211) and unpacked size (244147 bytes), suggesting the changes are concentrated within the existing codebase rather than involving substantial additions or removals.
The key distinction lies in the release date: version 7.22.15 was published on September 4, 2023, whereas version 7.22.11 was released on August 24, 2023. This relatively short time frame between releases hints at a focused effort to address identified issues quickly. Developers using @babel/runtime should prioritise updating to the latest version (7.22.15) to benefit from these improvements and ensure optimal compatibility. Although the exact nature of the changes requires deeper investigation to the commit logs, staying up-to-date minimizes potential bugs and ensures a smoother transpilation process when working with advanced JavaScript syntax. Consider reviewing Babel's official changelog for detailed information of the changes.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.22.15 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.