Browserify is a powerful command-line tool and library, central to the Node.js ecosystem, that lets developers write modular front-end JavaScript code in the Node.js style and bundle it for use in web browsers. Versions 4.1.5 and 4.1.6 are closely related releases, sharing a common goal of simplifying front-end development by bringing the familiar require() syntax of Node.js to the client-side. Examining the differences between these specific versions is important when selecting the right version during development.
While the core functionality remains consistent, upgrading from 4.1.5 to 4.1.6 provides stability enhancements and bug fixes. Both versions support a rich variety of dependencies, each responsible for specific tasks, from URL handling and file system globbing to handling streams and resolving module paths. Both versions share the same core dependencies, like umd, url, glob, xtend, and module-deps, implying a stable underlying architecture. The development dependencies including tools like seq, tap, dnode, es6ify, mkdirp, through, backbone, coffeeify, coffee-script, browser-unpack remain identical, indicating an unchanged testing environment.
The update to version 4.1.6 aims to have resolved issues that were present in the 4.1.5 version, it focuses on improved stability and reliability. Developers who rely on Browserify for production builds benefit from the newest version as it minimizes the problems of potential bugs. The releases shared the same MIT License, offering the same freedom and flexibility for using this software. By examining the differences between package versions, developers are able to make well-informed decisions, choosing the version that aligns with their project needs.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 4.1.6 of the package
Regular Expression Denial of Service in uglify-js
Versions of uglify-js prior to 2.6.0 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability when malicious inputs are passed into the parse() method.
var u = require('uglify-js');
var genstr = function (len, chr) {
var result = "";
for (i=0; i<=len; i++) {
result = result + chr;
}
return result;
}
u.parse("var a = " + genstr(process.argv[2], "1") + ".1ee7;");
$ time node test.js 10000
real 0m1.091s
user 0m1.047s
sys 0m0.039s
$ time node test.js 80000
real 0m6.486s
user 0m6.229s
sys 0m0.094s
Update to version 2.6.0 or later.
Regular Expression Denial of Service in minimatch
Affected versions of minimatch are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service attacks when user input is passed into the pattern argument of minimatch(path, pattern).
var minimatch = require(“minimatch”);
// utility function for generating long strings
var genstr = function (len, chr) {
var result = “”;
for (i=0; i<=len; i++) {
result = result + chr;
}
return result;
}
var exploit = “[!” + genstr(1000000, “\\”) + “A”;
// minimatch exploit.
console.log(“starting minimatch”);
minimatch(“foo”, exploit);
console.log(“finishing minimatch”);
Update to version 3.0.2 or later.
minimatch ReDoS vulnerability
A vulnerability was found in the minimatch package. This flaw allows a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when calling the braceExpand function with specific arguments, resulting in a Denial of Service.
Prototype Pollution in minimist
Affected versions of minimist are vulnerable to prototype pollution. Arguments are not properly sanitized, allowing an attacker to modify the prototype of Object, causing the addition or modification of an existing property that will exist on all objects.
Parsing the argument --__proto__.y=Polluted adds a y property with value Polluted to all objects. The argument --__proto__=Polluted raises and uncaught error and crashes the application.
This is exploitable if attackers have control over the arguments being passed to minimist.
Upgrade to versions 0.2.1, 1.2.3 or later.
Prototype Pollution in minimist
Minimist prior to 1.2.6 and 0.2.4 is vulnerable to Prototype Pollution via file index.js, function setKey() (lines 69-95).
Potential Command Injection in shell-quote
Affected versions of shell-quote do not properly escape command line arguments, which may result in command injection if the library is used to escape user input destined for use as command line arguments.
The following characters are not escaped properly: >,;,{,}
Bash has a neat but not well known feature known as "Bash Brace Expansion", wherein a sub-command can be executed without spaces by running it between a set of {} and using the , instead of to seperate arguments. Because of this, full command injection is possible even though it was initially thought to be impossible.
const quote = require('shell-quote').quote;
console.log(quote(['a;{echo,test,123,234}']));
// Actual "a;{echo,test,123,234}"
// Expected "a\;\{echo,test,123,234\}"
// Functional Equivalent "a; echo 'test' '123' '1234'"
Update to version 1.6.1 or later.