@babel/runtime versions 7.5.3 and 7.5.2 are modular runtime helpers designed to support Babel's transpilation process, ensuring compatibility across various JavaScript environments. Both versions share the same core functionality, providing essential polyfills and utility functions required by transformed code. They both depend on "regenerator-runtime" for async/await support and utilize "@babel/helpers" during development. The key difference between the two versions lies in the specific, often subtle, enhancements or bug fixes incorporated. While the file count remains consistent, the "unpackedSize" shows a negligible increase in version 7.5.3 suggesting a minor code adjustment or addition. For developers using Babel, upgrading to 7.5.3 is generally recommended to leverage the latest improvements and fixes, though the change appears to be incremental rather than a major feature release. The release date difference indicates a quick follow-up to 7.5.2, potentially addressing immediate issues. Developers should check the Babel changelog for a detailed list of specific changes between these minor versions for comprehensive insights. Choosing the latest version ensures that any potential vulnerabilities or compatibility concerns addressed in newer releases are mitigated. While both are stable, utilizing 7.5.3 is the principle of progressive advancement in software maintenance.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.5.3 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.