@babel/runtime versions 7.4.4 and 7.4.3 are both modular runtime helpers for Babel, designed to be used alongside Babel transformations to provide necessary support functions for modern JavaScript features in older environments. These runtime helpers enable developers to leverage the latest JavaScript syntax and functionalities without sacrificing compatibility. Both versions include "regenerator-runtime" as a dependency, ensuring proper execution of async/await and generator functions. From the data provided, the core functionality and structure across these adjacent versions remain relatively consistent, as reflected by the identical 'fileCount' and 'unpackedSize' in the "dist" section.
The notable difference lies in the 'devDependencies', specifically "@babel/helpers". Version 7.4.4 depends on "@babel/helpers": "^7.4.4", while version 7.4.3 depends on "@babel/helpers": "^7.4.3". A developer deciding between these versions should consider the implications of this slight change to their helper dependencies and potential bugfixes. Reviewing the changelog for @babel/helpers between these versions would be worthwhile to ensure the correct version is chosen for their specific project's needs. Additionally, the "releaseDate" indicates that version 7.4.4 was released approximately three weeks after version 7.4.3, suggesting a period for bug fixes and minor improvements. Therefore, developers should ensure compatibility and review release notes before upgrading from the previous stable version.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.4.4 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.