Babel vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when compiling specifically crafted malicious code
- Dominant language
- JavaScript
- Stars
- 9
- Forks
- 11
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
### Expected Behaviour
@babel/traverse v7.23.2 or higher is used.
### Actual Behaviour
@babel/traverse v7.15.4 is used in package.json. https://github.com/adobe/reactor-sandbox/blob/4d7e0c088316821484c42f6f13ebdca33ed72af0/package.json#L55
### More information
I received this Github dependabot alert in my repository for my Launch extension:
#### Impact
Using Babel to compile code that was specifically crafted by an attacker can lead to arbitrary code execution during compilation, when using plugins that rely on the `path.evaluate()` or `path.evaluateTruthy()` internal Babel methods.
Known affected plugins are:
- `@babel/plugin-transform-runtime`
- `@babel/preset-env` when using its [useBuiltIns](https://babeljs.io/docs/babel-preset-env#usebuiltins) option
- Any "polyfill provider" plugin that depends on `@babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider`, such as `babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3`, `babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2`, `babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims`, `babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator`
- No other plugins under the `@babel/` namespace are impacted, but third-party plugins might be.
**Users that only compile trusted code are not impacted.**
#### Patches
The vulnerability has been fixed in `@babel/traverse@7.23.2`.
Babel 6 does not receive security fixes anymore (see [Babel's security policy](https://github.com/babel/babel/security/policy)), hence there is no patch planned for `babel-traverse@6`.
#### Workarounds
- Upgrade `@babel/traverse` to v7.23.2 or higher. You can do this by deleting it from your package manager's lockfile and re-installing the dependencies. `@babel/core` >=7.23.2 will automatically pull in a non-vulnerable version.
- If you cannot upgrade `@babel/traverse` and are using one of the affected packages mentioned above, upgrade them to their latest version to avoid triggering the vulnerable code path in affected `@babel/traverse` versions:
- `@babel/plugin-transform-runtime` v7.23.2
- `@babel/preset-env` v7.23.2
- `@babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider` v0.4.3
- `babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2` v0.4.6
- `babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3` v0.8.5
- `babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims` v0.10.0
- `babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator` v0.5.3
Contributor guide
Research direction
Inspect package.json at the referenced line, where @babel/traverse is pinned to 7.15.4. Update the dependency to 7.23.2 or higher, then verify that the resolved dependency no longer uses the vulnerable version; the issue does not mention a specific test file.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- javascript
- Domain
- security
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Estimated time
- Under an hour
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100