xml2js is a Node.js library designed for converting XML documents into JavaScript objects, simplifying the process of working with XML data. Version 0.1.9 and 0.1.8 appear largely identical at first glance, both sharing the same description, dependencies on the 'sax' parser, and development dependencies like 'zap' and 'coffee-script' for testing and development workflows. The author and repository also remain consistent between the two versions, pointing to continued development by the same team. The key differentiating factor is the release date, with version 0.1.9 being released on June 23, 2011, while version 0.1.8 came out on June 11, 2011.
For developers, this suggests that version 0.1.9 primarily contains bug fixes or minor improvements over 0.1.8, as there are no indicated changes to dependencies or declared features. If encountering issues or edge cases while using xml2js 0.1.8, it would be prudent to upgrade to 0.1.9 to benefit from these likely subtle enhancements. The library helps streamline development workflows that involve XML data, offering a simple API to convert XML into easily manageable JavaScript objects. Developers using this package, should look into newer versions since both are 10+ years old.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 0.1.9 of the package
xml2js is vulnerable to prototype pollution
xml2js versions before 0.5.0 allows an external attacker to edit or add new properties to an object. This is possible because the application does not properly validate incoming JSON keys, thus allowing the __proto__ property to be edited.
