Qs is a popular and lightweight npm package designed for parsing and stringifying URL query strings. Examining versions 0.5.0 and 0.5.1 reveals subtle but potentially impactful changes for developers. Both versions share the same core functionality of providing robust querystring parsing, a description and are authored by TJ Holowaychuk. The primary repository remains consistent across both versions, hosted on GitHub under visionmedia/node-querystring. Both rely on 'mocha' and 'expect.js' for development dependencies aiding testing.
The crucial difference lies in the dependencies field. Version 0.5.0 lists an empty dependencies object, while version 0.5.1 lacks this field entirely. The absence of this dependencies field in the newer version *potentially* indicates a simplification or refactoring of the code, possibly removing reliance on external libraries for core functionality. However, it could also be an oversight in packaging. Without further information, it's difficult to ascertain the exact implication. This change, regardless of intent, could impact the bundle size or overall performance of applications using qs. Developers should test their applications when upgrading to ensure compatibility and optimal performance given the missing dependency information. Both versions are relatively old releases, dating back to 2012, offering a stable but potentially outdated, approach to query string manipulation. Consider checking for more recent and actively maintained alternatives for up-to-date features and security patches.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 0.5.1 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.
