Vue 2.5.18 represents a subtle but important update to the popular JavaScript framework for building user interfaces, arriving after version 2.5.17. Both versions share the fundamental goal of providing a reactive and component-oriented view layer, as reflected in their identical descriptions. However, examining their devDependencies reveals several key updates that impact the developer experience and the build process.
Version 2.5.18 showcases a modernization of the tooling ecosystem. Notably, it upgrades several core development dependencies. This new version uses webpack 4 while the older uses webpack 3. Also, the testing framework Karma undergoes an update, with versions ^3.1.1 and ^2.0.0 being used respectively. The newer version introduces Babel 7, signifying a shift towards more modern JavaScript syntax support and potentially smaller bundles through tree-shaking improvements. The older version uses Babel 6. Furthermore, key packages like terser for minifying and @babel/core are introduced or updated, while older packages like uglify-js and babel-core are removed. These changes collectively suggest a move towards a more efficient and standardized build process. Developers benefit from these updates through enhanced compatibility, improved build times, and better support for modern JavaScript features. The update demonstrates Vue's commitment to staying current with the evolving JavaScript landscape, ultimately leading to a more streamlined and productive development environment for Vue users. The new version also has a bigger unpacked size that can be a symptom of more features or refactorings.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 2.5.18 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.