CVE-2023-45133 | Babel vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when compiling specifically crafted malicious code

Babel is a compiler for writingJavaScript. In `@babel/traverse` prior to versions 7.23.2 and 8.0.0-alpha.4 and all versions of `babel-traverse`, 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; and 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. The vulnerability has been fixed in `@babel/[email protected]` and `@babel/[email protected]`. Those who cannot upgrade `@babel/traverse` and are using one of the affected packages mentioned above should 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.

Published: 2023-10-12 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-45133 is rated Moderate Risk (51.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.52%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-45133

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.12% 0.52% +0.39%
2 2025-03-30 0.33% 0.12% -0.20%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.33% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-45133

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.5 6.0 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.0 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-45133

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-45133

GHSA-67hx-6x53-jw92 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: npm — Babel vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when compiling specifically crafted malicious code

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-45133

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-45133 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (node-babel7), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-45133
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-45133
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-45133 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (node-babel, node-babel7), 24 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 13, needs-triage 5, not-affected 3, ignored 2, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-45133

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-45133

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
babeljs babel < 7.23.2 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel:8.0.0:alpha.0:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel:8.0.0:alpha.1:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel:8.0.0:alpha.2:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel:8.0.0:alpha.3:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-helper-define-polyfill-provider < 0.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-helper-define-polyfill-provider:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2 < 0.4.6 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs2:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3 < 0.8.5 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims < 0.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator < 0.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-plugin-transform-runtime < 7.23.2 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-plugin-transform-runtime:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*
babeljs babel-preset-env < 7.23.2 cpe:2.3:a:babeljs:babel-preset-env:*:*:*:*:*:nodejs:*:*

References for CVE-2023-45133

cvelogic Threat Intelligence