Babel Preset Env streamlines JavaScript development by allowing developers to use the latest JavaScript features without worrying about browser compatibility. It intelligently determines the necessary Babel transformations based on the target environments specified, reducing the final bundle size and improving performance. Comparing versions 1.4.0 and 1.3.3 reveals subtle but important changes. Both versions share a core set of dependencies, featuring numerous Babel plugins for ES2015 transformations like arrow functions, classes, destructuring, and modules, alongside tools like browserslist for target environment definition.
The key difference lies in the compat-table version within devDependencies. Version 1.4.0 upgrades to commit hash 861954b6e13d3eaa1ba9ef1a016906c0fc1072db on the kangax/compat-table repository, while version 1.3.3 relies on c38f039b8ea7fadf347d3e300fec3611645e31e9. This indicates that version 1.4.0 incorporates the newer version of compatibility data defining which JavaScript features are supported by which browsers.
This translates directly to more accurate and up-to-date transformations. Meaning developers using version 1.4.0 of babel-preset-env can expect more finely tuned transpilation resulting in smaller and faster code while still reaching all the browsers they intended. While the version difference in compat-table might appear minor on the surface, it underscores Babel Preset Env's commitment to staying current with the evolving JavaScript landscape and ensuring developers get the best possible transpilation experience.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 1.4.0 of the package
Babel vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when compiling specifically crafted malicious code
Using Babel to compile code that was specifically crafted by an attacker can lead to arbitrary code execution during compilation, when using plugins that rely on the path.evaluate()or path.evaluateTruthy() internal Babel methods.
Known affected plugins are:
@babel/plugin-transform-runtime@babel/preset-env when using its useBuiltIns option@babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider, such as babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3, babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2, babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims, babel-plugin-polyfill-regeneratorNo other plugins under the @babel/ namespace are impacted, but third-party plugins might be.
Users that only compile trusted code are not impacted.
The vulnerability has been fixed in @babel/traverse@7.23.2.
Babel 6 does not receive security fixes anymore (see Babel's security policy), hence there is no patch planned for babel-traverse@6.
@babel/traverse to v7.23.2 or higher. You can do this by deleting it from your package manager's lockfile and re-installing the dependencies. @babel/core >=7.23.2 will automatically pull in a non-vulnerable version.@babel/traverse and are using one of the affected packages mentioned above, upgrade them to their latest version to avoid triggering the vulnerable code path in affected @babel/traverse versions:
@babel/plugin-transform-runtime v7.23.2@babel/preset-env v7.23.2@babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider v0.4.3babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2 v0.4.6babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3 v0.8.5babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims v0.10.0babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator v0.5.3