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Babel vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when compiling specifically crafted malicious code

Critical severity GitHub Reviewed Published Oct 12, 2023 in babel/babel • Updated Apr 4, 2024

Package

npm @babel/traverse (npm)

Affected versions

< 7.23.2
>= 8.0.0-alpha.0, < 8.0.0-alpha.4

Patched versions

7.23.2
8.0.0-alpha.4
npm babel-traverse (npm)
< 7.23.2
None

Description

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 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/[email protected].

Babel 6 does not receive security fixes anymore (see Babel's 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

References

@nicolo-ribaudo nicolo-ribaudo published to babel/babel Oct 12, 2023
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Oct 12, 2023
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Oct 16, 2023
Reviewed Oct 16, 2023
Last updated Apr 4, 2024

Severity

Critical

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(27th percentile)

Weaknesses

Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs

The product implements a protection mechanism that relies on a list of inputs (or properties of inputs) that are not allowed by policy or otherwise require other action to neutralize before additional processing takes place, but the list is incomplete, leading to resultant weaknesses. Learn more on MITRE.

Incorrect Comparison

The product compares two entities in a security-relevant context, but the comparison is incorrect, which may lead to resultant weaknesses. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2023-45133

GHSA ID

GHSA-67hx-6x53-jw92

Source code

Credits

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