@babel/runtime version 7.5.4 is a minor patch release of Babel's modular runtime helpers, building upon the previous stable version 7.5.3. Both versions share the same core functionality, providing essential runtime support for Babel-transformed code, ensuring compatibility across different JavaScript environments. They both depend on regenerator-runtime for async/await functionality and utilize @babel/helpers for various code transformations.
The key difference lies in the updated @babel/helpers dependency. Version 7.5.4 relies on @babel/helpers version 7.5.4, whereas 7.5.3 depends on @babel/helpers version 7.5.3.. This typically signifies bug fixes, performance improvements, or new helper functions introduced in the newer @babel/helpers package, resolving potential issues or optimizing existing transformations. The unpacked size sees a very slight change, hinting at minor adjustments to the internal code.
For developers using @babel/runtime, upgrading from 7.5.3 to 7.5.4 ensures they benefit from the latest fixes and optimizations incorporated within the Babel ecosystem. While documentation might not highlight any significant breaking changes, staying up-to-date with patch releases is crucial for maintaining code stability and compatibility, especially in projects heavily reliant on Babel's transformations. Always consult the changelogs for @babel/helpers package for a comprehensive overview of specific changes. The upgrade should be relatively seamless with tools like npm or yarn.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 7.5.4 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.