Arbitrary Code Execution in Babel @babel/traverse during compilation
CVE-2023-45133 is an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in @babel/traverse prior to 7.23.2 and 8.0.0-alpha.4, and in all versions of babel-traverse. When Babel compiles attacker-crafted JavaScript and a plugin invokes the internal path.evaluate() or path.evaluateTruthy() methods on that input, the vulnerable evaluation path can result in code execution during the compilation/build process. Known affected plugins include @babel/plugin-transform-runtime, @babel/preset-env when useBuiltIns is enabled, and polyfill-provider plugins built on @babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider, including babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2, babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3, babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims, and babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator. The issue does not affect users who only compile trusted code.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
@babel/traverse versions from lockfiles, and reinstall dependencies so a fixed version is resolved. Restrict build execution environments and limit available secrets to reduce blast radius if exploitation occurs.Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
@babel/traverse to 7.23.2 or later, or to 8.0.0-alpha.4 or later. Where dependency resolution is indirect, upgrade @babel/core to a version that pulls a fixed @babel/traverse. Babel 6 (babel-traverse) is end-of-life and does not receive a security fix; affected users should migrate off Babel 6. If upgrading @babel/traverse is not immediately possible, upgrade affected packages to versions that avoid the vulnerable code path: @babel/plugin-transform-runtime 7.23.2, @babel/preset-env 7.23.2, @babel/helper-define-polyfill-provider 0.4.3, babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2 0.4.6, babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3 0.8.5, babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims 0.10.0, and babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator 0.5.3.Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
2 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.
No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.