Babel preset stage-3 offers a convenient collection of Babel plugins that enable support for JavaScript features currently in stage 3 of the TC39 standardization process. This means developers can start using these features with the understanding that they are likely to be finalized and become part of the official JavaScript language specification. Using this preset allows for future-proof code and the ability to experiment with cutting-edge language enhancements.
Comparing version 6.1.17 with the older 6.1.2, the core change lies in the updated dependencies. Both versions include plugins for transforming asynchronous functions and exponentiation operators, but version 6.1.17 upgrades these to more recent versions: "babel-plugin-transform-async-to-generator":"^6.1.17" and "babel-plugin-transform-exponentiation-operator":"^6.1.17", while version 6.1.2 uses "babel-plugin-transform-async-to-generator":"^6.0.14" and "babel-plugin-transform-exponentiation-operator":"^6.0.14". This implies bug fixes, performance improvements, or better adherence to the evolving stage 3 specifications within those individual plugins.
For developers using Babel, upgrading to version 6.1.17 ensures they're leveraging the latest transformations for async/await and the exponentiation operator (**), potentially resulting in more efficient and standards-compliant code generation. While the core functionality remains the same—supporting stage 3 features—keeping dependencies up-to-date is crucial for stability and compatibility with the latest JavaScript runtimes. The 'stage-3' naming is important because it signifies a degree of stability and reduces the risk of significant breaking changes compared to stage 0, 1, or 2 presets.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 6.1.17 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