XML2js is a popular npm package that simplifies XML parsing in JavaScript environments, converting XML documents into easily manageable JavaScript objects. Versions 0.4.4 and 0.4.5 share a common foundation, both providing a straightforward means of transforming XML into JavaScript objects. Key dependencies such as "sax" (version 0.6.x) for parsing and "xmlbuilder" (version >=1.0.0) for XML construction remain constant across both versions, ensuring core functionality is maintained. Similarly, developer dependencies like "zap," "diff," "docco," and "coffee-script" remain unchanged, which are primarily used for testing, documentation, and development workflows.
The primary difference lies in the release date. Version 0.4.5 was released on February 10, 2015, while version 0.4.4 dates back to May 28, 2014. This time difference suggests bug fixes, minor enhancements, or updates to internal components might exist in version 0.4.5, although no specific changes are detailed in the provided metadata. For developers, choosing version 0.4.5 would generally be preferable since it is the newer version and likely incorporates improvements not present in 0.4.4. Both versions are available on npm, readily installable via common package managers, offering a convenient solution for handling XML data within Node.js and browser-based JavaScript applications. Both versions are authored by Marek Kubica and maintained on the GitHub repository: Leonidas-from-XIV/node-xml2js.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 0.4.5 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.
