Qs is a popular npm package designed for parsing and stringifying URL query strings. Examining versions 0.4.1 and 0.4.2 reveals minimal changes, suggesting a focused update. Both versions share the same core functionality - parsing and stringifying query strings- with no listed dependencies, indicating a lightweight and self-contained library. The development dependencies, including Mocha and Should, remain consistent, implying the testing approach and quality assurance remained stable between releases.
The noticeable difference lies in the release date. Version 0.4.2 was published on February 8, 2012, while version 0.4.1 was released on January 26, 2012. This two week gap suggests that version 0.4.2 likely included bug fixes or minor improvements identified after the 0.4.1 release. For developers, this means upgrading from 0.4.1 to 0.4.2 is advisable, especially if they encountered any issues with the earlier version. If the developers did not encounter bugs or issues they can remain to the older version.
Both versions are authored by TJ Holowaychuk, a well-known figure in the JavaScript community, lending credibility to the package. The repository URL points to visionmedia/node-querystring, which may warrant further investigation, as it could indicate a historical context or potential evolution of the project. The package's 'dist' property provides the tarball URL for downloading, facilitating easy integration into projects. Qs offers a straightforward solution for handling query strings in Node.js environments.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 0.4.2 of the package
Denial-of-Service Extended Event Loop Blocking in qs
Versions prior to 1.0.0 of qs are affected by a denial of service vulnerability that results from excessive recursion in parsing a deeply nested JSON string.
Update to version 1.0.0 or later
Denial-of-Service Memory Exhaustion in qs
Versions prior to 1.0 of qs are affected by a denial of service condition. This condition is triggered by parsing a crafted string that deserializes into very large sparse arrays, resulting in the process running out of memory and eventually crashing.
Update to version 1.0.0 or later.
Prototype Pollution Protection Bypass in qs
Affected version of qs are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution because it is possible to bypass the protection. The qs.parse function fails to properly prevent an object's prototype to be altered when parsing arbitrary input. Input containing [ or ] may bypass the prototype pollution protection and alter the Object prototype. This allows attackers to override properties that will exist in all objects, which may lead to Denial of Service or Remote Code Execution in specific circumstances.
Upgrade to 6.0.4, 6.1.2, 6.2.3, 6.3.2 or later.
qs vulnerable to Prototype Pollution
qs before 6.10.3 allows attackers to cause a Node process hang because an __ proto__ key can be used. In many typical web framework use cases, an unauthenticated remote attacker can place the attack payload in the query string of the URL that is used to visit the application, such as a[__proto__]=b&a[__proto__]&a[length]=100000000. The fix was backported to qs 6.9.7, 6.8.3, 6.7.3, 6.6.1, 6.5.3, 6.4.1, 6.3.3, and 6.2.4.
