Vue 2.4.1 is a patch release following closely on the heels of Vue 2.4.0, both versions of the popular JavaScript framework designed for building user interfaces and single-page applications. Both versions share the same core description: a reactive, component-oriented view layer tailored for modern web development. Diving into the package.json data, the key difference lies in the releaseDate, with version 2.4.1 being released shortly after and potentially addressing minor bugs or refinements identified in version 2.4.0.
Developers looking at these versions will find an extensive list of devDependencies, showcasing the comprehensive tooling used in Vue's development process. These tools encompass areas like linting (ESLint), bundling (Rollup, Webpack), testing (Karma, Jasmine, Nightwatch), and type checking (Flow, TypeScript), reflecting Vue's commitment to code quality and developer experience. The presence of Babel and associated plugins highlights support for modern JavaScript syntax and JSX, enhancing code readability and maintainability. Modules like rollup-plugin-flow-no-whitespace and babel-preset-flow-vue shows the usage of flow type checking. While the core functionalities and APIs remain consistent between these minor versions, opting for Vue 2.4.1 is generally advisable due to the likelihood of bug fixes and stability improvements. Both versions come with an MIT License.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 2.4.1 of the package
ReDoS vulnerability in vue package that is exploitable through inefficient regex evaluation in the parseHTML function
The ReDoS can be exploited through the parseHTML function in the html-parser.ts file. This flaw allows attackers to slow down the application by providing specially crafted input that causes inefficient processing of regular expressions, leading to excessive resource consumption.
To demonstrate this vulnerability, here's an example. In a Vue client-side application, create a new Vue instance with a template string that includes a <script> tag but closes it incorrectly with something like </textarea>.
new Vue({
el: '#app',
template: '
<div>
Hello, world!
<script>${'<'.repeat(1000000)}</textarea>
</div>'
});
Next, set up a basic HTML page (e.g., index.html) to load this JavaScript and mount the Vue instance:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My first Vue app</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id=\"app\">Loading...</div>
</body>
</html>
When you visit the app in your browser at http://localhost:3000, you'll notice that the time taken to parse and mount the Vue application increases significantly due to the ReDoS vulnerability, demonstrating how the flaw can affect performance.