Vue.js version 2.6.12 is a patch release, building upon the solid foundation of the 2.6 series, a popular choice for building dynamic user interfaces. Comparing it to its predecessor, version 2.6.11, reveals subtle yet important updates. While both versions share the same core description – "Reactive, component-oriented view layer for modern web interfaces" – developers should note the difference in releaseDate. Version 2.6.12 was released on 2020-08-20, indicating bug fixes and internal improvements accumulated since the 2.6.11 release in late 2019.
A key difference lies in the serialize-javascript dependency. Version 2.6.12 updates this dependency to version 3.1.0, whereas version 2.6.11 uses 2.1.2. This suggests a security or performance enhancement in how Vue handles the serialization of JavaScript objects. While the devDependencies appears same in both versions, the dist attributes show a different unpackedSize. Version 2.6.12 has 2980098 while the older one has 2982049, indicating a difference in file size, likely from optimized code or fixed vulnerabilities.
For developers, upgrading from 2.6.11 to 2.6.12 is generally recommended to benefit from these improvements, especially if they rely on server-side rendering or handle complex data structures. While patch releases typically don't introduce breaking changes, thorough testing is always advised to ensure compatibility with existing codebases. These incremental updates contribute to the stability and reliability of Vue.js, reinforcing its position as a leading framework for front-end development.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 2.6.12 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.