[6a3a178] | 1 | # safe-buffer [![travis][travis-image]][travis-url] [![npm][npm-image]][npm-url] [![downloads][downloads-image]][downloads-url] [![javascript style guide][standard-image]][standard-url]
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| 2 |
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| 3 | [travis-image]: https://img.shields.io/travis/feross/safe-buffer/master.svg
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| 4 | [travis-url]: https://travis-ci.org/feross/safe-buffer
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| 5 | [npm-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/safe-buffer.svg
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| 6 | [npm-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer
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| 7 | [downloads-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/safe-buffer.svg
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| 8 | [downloads-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer
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| 9 | [standard-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/code_style-standard-brightgreen.svg
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| 10 | [standard-url]: https://standardjs.com
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| 11 |
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| 12 | #### Safer Node.js Buffer API
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| 13 |
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| 14 | **Use the new Node.js Buffer APIs (`Buffer.from`, `Buffer.alloc`,
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| 15 | `Buffer.allocUnsafe`, `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow`) in all versions of Node.js.**
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| 16 |
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| 17 | **Uses the built-in implementation when available.**
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| 18 |
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| 19 | ## install
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| 20 |
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| 21 | ```
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| 22 | npm install safe-buffer
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| 23 | ```
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| 24 |
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| 25 | ## usage
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| 26 |
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| 27 | The goal of this package is to provide a safe replacement for the node.js `Buffer`.
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| 28 |
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| 29 | It's a drop-in replacement for `Buffer`. You can use it by adding one `require` line to
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| 30 | the top of your node.js modules:
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| 31 |
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| 32 | ```js
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| 33 | var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
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| 34 |
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| 35 | // Existing buffer code will continue to work without issues:
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| 36 |
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| 37 | new Buffer('hey', 'utf8')
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| 38 | new Buffer([1, 2, 3], 'utf8')
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| 39 | new Buffer(obj)
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| 40 | new Buffer(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe)
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| 41 |
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| 42 | // But you can use these new explicit APIs to make clear what you want:
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| 43 |
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| 44 | Buffer.from('hey', 'utf8') // convert from many types to a Buffer
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| 45 | Buffer.alloc(16) // create a zero-filled buffer (safe)
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| 46 | Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe)
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| 47 | ```
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| 48 |
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| 49 | ## api
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| 50 |
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| 51 | ### Class Method: Buffer.from(array)
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| 52 | <!-- YAML
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| 53 | added: v3.0.0
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| 54 | -->
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| 55 |
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| 56 | * `array` {Array}
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| 57 |
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| 58 | Allocates a new `Buffer` using an `array` of octets.
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| 59 |
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| 60 | ```js
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| 61 | const buf = Buffer.from([0x62,0x75,0x66,0x66,0x65,0x72]);
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| 62 | // creates a new Buffer containing ASCII bytes
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| 63 | // ['b','u','f','f','e','r']
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| 64 | ```
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| 65 |
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| 66 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `array` is not an `Array`.
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| 67 |
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| 68 | ### Class Method: Buffer.from(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]])
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| 69 | <!-- YAML
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| 70 | added: v5.10.0
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| 71 | -->
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| 72 |
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| 73 | * `arrayBuffer` {ArrayBuffer} The `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` or
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| 74 | a `new ArrayBuffer()`
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| 75 | * `byteOffset` {Number} Default: `0`
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| 76 | * `length` {Number} Default: `arrayBuffer.length - byteOffset`
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| 77 |
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| 78 | When passed a reference to the `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` instance,
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| 79 | the newly created `Buffer` will share the same allocated memory as the
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| 80 | TypedArray.
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| 81 |
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| 82 | ```js
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| 83 | const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
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| 84 | arr[0] = 5000;
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| 85 | arr[1] = 4000;
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| 86 |
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| 87 | const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer); // shares the memory with arr;
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| 88 |
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| 89 | console.log(buf);
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| 90 | // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 a0 0f>
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| 91 |
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| 92 | // changing the TypedArray changes the Buffer also
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| 93 | arr[1] = 6000;
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| 94 |
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| 95 | console.log(buf);
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| 96 | // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 70 17>
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| 97 | ```
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| 98 |
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| 99 | The optional `byteOffset` and `length` arguments specify a memory range within
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| 100 | the `arrayBuffer` that will be shared by the `Buffer`.
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| 101 |
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| 102 | ```js
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| 103 | const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10);
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| 104 | const buf = Buffer.from(ab, 0, 2);
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| 105 | console.log(buf.length);
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| 106 | // Prints: 2
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| 107 | ```
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| 108 |
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| 109 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `arrayBuffer` is not an `ArrayBuffer`.
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| 110 |
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| 111 | ### Class Method: Buffer.from(buffer)
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| 112 | <!-- YAML
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| 113 | added: v3.0.0
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| 114 | -->
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| 115 |
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| 116 | * `buffer` {Buffer}
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| 117 |
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| 118 | Copies the passed `buffer` data onto a new `Buffer` instance.
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| 119 |
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| 120 | ```js
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| 121 | const buf1 = Buffer.from('buffer');
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| 122 | const buf2 = Buffer.from(buf1);
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| 123 |
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| 124 | buf1[0] = 0x61;
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| 125 | console.log(buf1.toString());
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| 126 | // 'auffer'
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| 127 | console.log(buf2.toString());
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| 128 | // 'buffer' (copy is not changed)
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| 129 | ```
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| 130 |
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| 131 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `buffer` is not a `Buffer`.
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| 132 |
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| 133 | ### Class Method: Buffer.from(str[, encoding])
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| 134 | <!-- YAML
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| 135 | added: v5.10.0
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| 136 | -->
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| 137 |
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| 138 | * `str` {String} String to encode.
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| 139 | * `encoding` {String} Encoding to use, Default: `'utf8'`
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| 140 |
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| 141 | Creates a new `Buffer` containing the given JavaScript string `str`. If
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| 142 | provided, the `encoding` parameter identifies the character encoding.
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| 143 | If not provided, `encoding` defaults to `'utf8'`.
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| 144 |
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| 145 | ```js
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| 146 | const buf1 = Buffer.from('this is a tést');
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| 147 | console.log(buf1.toString());
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| 148 | // prints: this is a tést
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| 149 | console.log(buf1.toString('ascii'));
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| 150 | // prints: this is a tC)st
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| 151 |
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| 152 | const buf2 = Buffer.from('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex');
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| 153 | console.log(buf2.toString());
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| 154 | // prints: this is a tést
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| 155 | ```
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| 156 |
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| 157 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `str` is not a string.
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| 158 |
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| 159 | ### Class Method: Buffer.alloc(size[, fill[, encoding]])
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| 160 | <!-- YAML
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| 161 | added: v5.10.0
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| 162 | -->
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| 163 |
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| 164 | * `size` {Number}
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| 165 | * `fill` {Value} Default: `undefined`
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| 166 | * `encoding` {String} Default: `utf8`
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| 167 |
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| 168 | Allocates a new `Buffer` of `size` bytes. If `fill` is `undefined`, the
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| 169 | `Buffer` will be *zero-filled*.
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| 170 |
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| 171 | ```js
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| 172 | const buf = Buffer.alloc(5);
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| 173 | console.log(buf);
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| 174 | // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>
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| 175 | ```
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| 176 |
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| 177 | The `size` must be less than or equal to the value of
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| 178 | `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is
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| 179 | `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will
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| 180 | be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified.
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| 181 |
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| 182 | If `fill` is specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be initialized by calling
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| 183 | `buf.fill(fill)`. See [`buf.fill()`][] for more information.
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| 184 |
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| 185 | ```js
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| 186 | const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a');
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| 187 | console.log(buf);
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| 188 | // <Buffer 61 61 61 61 61>
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| 189 | ```
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| 190 |
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| 191 | If both `fill` and `encoding` are specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be
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| 192 | initialized by calling `buf.fill(fill, encoding)`. For example:
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| 193 |
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| 194 | ```js
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| 195 | const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64');
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| 196 | console.log(buf);
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| 197 | // <Buffer 68 65 6c 6c 6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64>
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| 198 | ```
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| 199 |
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| 200 | Calling `Buffer.alloc(size)` can be significantly slower than the alternative
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| 201 | `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` but ensures that the newly created `Buffer` instance
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| 202 | contents will *never contain sensitive data*.
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| 203 |
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| 204 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
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| 205 |
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| 206 | ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)
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| 207 | <!-- YAML
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| 208 | added: v5.10.0
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| 209 | -->
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| 210 |
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| 211 | * `size` {Number}
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| 212 |
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| 213 | Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* `Buffer` of `size` bytes. The `size` must
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| 214 | be less than or equal to the value of `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit
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| 215 | architectures, `kMaxLength` is `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is
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| 216 | thrown. A zero-length Buffer will be created if a `size` less than or equal to
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| 217 | 0 is specified.
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| 218 |
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| 219 | The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not
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| 220 | initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and
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| 221 | *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such
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| 222 | `Buffer` instances to zeroes.
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| 223 |
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| 224 | ```js
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| 225 | const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);
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| 226 | console.log(buf);
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| 227 | // <Buffer 78 e0 82 02 01>
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| 228 | // (octets will be different, every time)
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| 229 | buf.fill(0);
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| 230 | console.log(buf);
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| 231 | // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>
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| 232 | ```
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| 233 |
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| 234 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
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| 235 |
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| 236 | Note that the `Buffer` module pre-allocates an internal `Buffer` instance of
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| 237 | size `Buffer.poolSize` that is used as a pool for the fast allocation of new
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| 238 | `Buffer` instances created using `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` (and the deprecated
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| 239 | `new Buffer(size)` constructor) only when `size` is less than or equal to
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| 240 | `Buffer.poolSize >> 1` (floor of `Buffer.poolSize` divided by two). The default
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| 241 | value of `Buffer.poolSize` is `8192` but can be modified.
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| 242 |
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| 243 | Use of this pre-allocated internal memory pool is a key difference between
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| 244 | calling `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` vs. `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)`.
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| 245 | Specifically, `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` will *never* use the internal Buffer
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| 246 | pool, while `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)` *will* use the internal
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| 247 | Buffer pool if `size` is less than or equal to half `Buffer.poolSize`. The
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| 248 | difference is subtle but can be important when an application requires the
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| 249 | additional performance that `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` provides.
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| 250 |
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| 251 | ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size)
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| 252 | <!-- YAML
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| 253 | added: v5.10.0
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| 254 | -->
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| 255 |
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| 256 | * `size` {Number}
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| 257 |
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| 258 | Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* and non-pooled `Buffer` of `size` bytes. The
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| 259 | `size` must be less than or equal to the value of
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| 260 | `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is
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| 261 | `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will
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| 262 | be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified.
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| 263 |
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| 264 | The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not
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| 265 | initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and
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| 266 | *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such
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| 267 | `Buffer` instances to zeroes.
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| 268 |
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| 269 | When using `Buffer.allocUnsafe()` to allocate new `Buffer` instances,
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| 270 | allocations under 4KB are, by default, sliced from a single pre-allocated
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| 271 | `Buffer`. This allows applications to avoid the garbage collection overhead of
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| 272 | creating many individually allocated Buffers. This approach improves both
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| 273 | performance and memory usage by eliminating the need to track and cleanup as
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| 274 | many `Persistent` objects.
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| 275 |
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| 276 | However, in the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of
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| 277 | memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time, it may be appropriate
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| 278 | to create an un-pooled Buffer instance using `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` then
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| 279 | copy out the relevant bits.
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| 280 |
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| 281 | ```js
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| 282 | // need to keep around a few small chunks of memory
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| 283 | const store = [];
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| 284 |
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| 285 | socket.on('readable', () => {
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| 286 | const data = socket.read();
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| 287 | // allocate for retained data
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| 288 | const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10);
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| 289 | // copy the data into the new allocation
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| 290 | data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);
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| 291 | store.push(sb);
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| 292 | });
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| 293 | ```
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| 294 |
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| 295 | Use of `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` should be used only as a last resort *after*
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| 296 | a developer has observed undue memory retention in their applications.
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| 297 |
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| 298 | A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
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| 299 |
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| 300 | ### All the Rest
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| 301 |
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| 302 | The rest of the `Buffer` API is exactly the same as in node.js.
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| 303 | [See the docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html).
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| 304 |
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| 305 |
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| 306 | ## Related links
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| 307 |
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| 308 | - [Node.js issue: Buffer(number) is unsafe](https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/4660)
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| 309 | - [Node.js Enhancement Proposal: Buffer.from/Buffer.alloc/Buffer.zalloc/Buffer() soft-deprecate](https://github.com/nodejs/node-eps/pull/4)
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| 310 |
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| 311 | ## Why is `Buffer` unsafe?
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| 312 |
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| 313 | Today, the node.js `Buffer` constructor is overloaded to handle many different argument
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| 314 | types like `String`, `Array`, `Object`, `TypedArrayView` (`Uint8Array`, etc.),
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| 315 | `ArrayBuffer`, and also `Number`.
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| 316 |
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| 317 | The API is optimized for convenience: you can throw any type at it, and it will try to do
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| 318 | what you want.
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| 319 |
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| 320 | Because the Buffer constructor is so powerful, you often see code like this:
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| 321 |
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| 322 | ```js
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| 323 | // Convert UTF-8 strings to hex
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| 324 | function toHex (str) {
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| 325 | return new Buffer(str).toString('hex')
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| 326 | }
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| 327 | ```
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| 328 |
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| 329 | ***But what happens if `toHex` is called with a `Number` argument?***
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| 330 |
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| 331 | ### Remote Memory Disclosure
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| 332 |
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| 333 | If an attacker can make your program call the `Buffer` constructor with a `Number`
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| 334 | argument, then they can make it allocate uninitialized memory from the node.js process.
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| 335 | This could potentially disclose TLS private keys, user data, or database passwords.
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| 336 |
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| 337 | When the `Buffer` constructor is passed a `Number` argument, it returns an
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| 338 | **UNINITIALIZED** block of memory of the specified `size`. When you create a `Buffer` like
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| 339 | this, you **MUST** overwrite the contents before returning it to the user.
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| 340 |
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| 341 | From the [node.js docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_new_buffer_size):
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| 342 |
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| 343 | > `new Buffer(size)`
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| 344 | >
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| 345 | > - `size` Number
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| 346 | >
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| 347 | > The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is not initialized.
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| 348 | > **The contents of a newly created `Buffer` are unknown and could contain sensitive
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| 349 | > data.** Use `buf.fill(0)` to initialize a Buffer to zeroes.
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| 350 |
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| 351 | (Emphasis our own.)
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| 352 |
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| 353 | Whenever the programmer intended to create an uninitialized `Buffer` you often see code
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| 354 | like this:
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| 355 |
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| 356 | ```js
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| 357 | var buf = new Buffer(16)
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| 358 |
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| 359 | // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer
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| 360 | for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) {
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| 361 | buf[i] = otherBuf[i]
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| 362 | }
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| 363 | ```
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| 364 |
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| 365 |
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| 366 | ### Would this ever be a problem in real code?
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| 367 |
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| 368 | Yes. It's surprisingly common to forget to check the type of your variables in a
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| 369 | dynamically-typed language like JavaScript.
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| 370 |
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| 371 | Usually the consequences of assuming the wrong type is that your program crashes with an
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| 372 | uncaught exception. But the failure mode for forgetting to check the type of arguments to
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| 373 | the `Buffer` constructor is more catastrophic.
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| 374 |
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| 375 | Here's an example of a vulnerable service that takes a JSON payload and converts it to
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| 376 | hex:
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| 377 |
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| 378 | ```js
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| 379 | // Take a JSON payload {str: "some string"} and convert it to hex
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| 380 | var server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
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| 381 | var data = ''
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| 382 | req.setEncoding('utf8')
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| 383 | req.on('data', function (chunk) {
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| 384 | data += chunk
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| 385 | })
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| 386 | req.on('end', function () {
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| 387 | var body = JSON.parse(data)
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| 388 | res.end(new Buffer(body.str).toString('hex'))
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| 389 | })
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| 390 | })
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| 391 |
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| 392 | server.listen(8080)
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| 393 | ```
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| 394 |
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| 395 | In this example, an http client just has to send:
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| 396 |
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| 397 | ```json
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| 398 | {
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| 399 | "str": 1000
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| 400 | }
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| 401 | ```
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| 402 |
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| 403 | and it will get back 1,000 bytes of uninitialized memory from the server.
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| 404 |
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| 405 | This is a very serious bug. It's similar in severity to the
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| 406 | [the Heartbleed bug](http://heartbleed.com/) that allowed disclosure of OpenSSL process
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| 407 | memory by remote attackers.
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| 408 |
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| 409 |
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| 410 | ### Which real-world packages were vulnerable?
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| 411 |
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| 412 | #### [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht)
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| 413 |
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| 414 | [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and I
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| 415 | ([Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/)) found this issue in one of our own packages,
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| 416 | [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht). The bug would allow
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| 417 | anyone on the internet to send a series of messages to a user of `bittorrent-dht` and get
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| 418 | them to reveal 20 bytes at a time of uninitialized memory from the node.js process.
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| 419 |
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| 420 | Here's
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| 421 | [the commit](https://github.com/feross/bittorrent-dht/commit/6c7da04025d5633699800a99ec3fbadf70ad35b8)
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| 422 | that fixed it. We released a new fixed version, created a
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| 423 | [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68), and deprecated all
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| 424 | vulnerable versions on npm so users will get a warning to upgrade to a newer version.
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| 425 |
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| 426 | #### [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws)
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| 427 |
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| 428 | That got us wondering if there were other vulnerable packages. Sure enough, within a short
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| 429 | period of time, we found the same issue in [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws), the
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| 430 | most popular WebSocket implementation in node.js.
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| 431 |
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| 432 | If certain APIs were called with `Number` parameters instead of `String` or `Buffer` as
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| 433 | expected, then uninitialized server memory would be disclosed to the remote peer.
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| 434 |
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| 435 | These were the vulnerable methods:
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| 436 |
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| 437 | ```js
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| 438 | socket.send(number)
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| 439 | socket.ping(number)
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| 440 | socket.pong(number)
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| 441 | ```
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| 442 |
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| 443 | Here's a vulnerable socket server with some echo functionality:
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| 444 |
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| 445 | ```js
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| 446 | server.on('connection', function (socket) {
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| 447 | socket.on('message', function (message) {
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| 448 | message = JSON.parse(message)
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| 449 | if (message.type === 'echo') {
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| 450 | socket.send(message.data) // send back the user's message
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| 451 | }
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| 452 | })
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| 453 | })
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| 454 | ```
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| 455 |
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| 456 | `socket.send(number)` called on the server, will disclose server memory.
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| 457 |
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| 458 | Here's [the release](https://github.com/websockets/ws/releases/tag/1.0.1) where the issue
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| 459 | was fixed, with a more detailed explanation. Props to
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| 460 | [Arnout Kazemier](https://github.com/3rd-Eden) for the quick fix. Here's the
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| 461 | [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67).
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| 462 |
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| 463 |
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| 464 | ### What's the solution?
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| 465 |
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| 466 | It's important that node.js offers a fast way to get memory otherwise performance-critical
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| 467 | applications would needlessly get a lot slower.
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| 468 |
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| 469 | But we need a better way to *signal our intent* as programmers. **When we want
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| 470 | uninitialized memory, we should request it explicitly.**
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| 471 |
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| 472 | Sensitive functionality should not be packed into a developer-friendly API that loosely
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| 473 | accepts many different types. This type of API encourages the lazy practice of passing
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| 474 | variables in without checking the type very carefully.
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| 475 |
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| 476 | #### A new API: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`
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| 477 |
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| 478 | The functionality of creating buffers with uninitialized memory should be part of another
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| 479 | API. We propose `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`. This way, it's not part of an API that
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| 480 | frequently gets user input of all sorts of different types passed into it.
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| 481 |
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| 482 | ```js
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| 483 | var buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // careful, uninitialized memory!
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| 484 |
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| 485 | // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer
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| 486 | for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) {
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| 487 | buf[i] = otherBuf[i]
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| 488 | }
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| 489 | ```
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| 490 |
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| 491 |
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| 492 | ### How do we fix node.js core?
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| 493 |
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| 494 | We sent [a PR to node.js core](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514) (merged as
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| 495 | `semver-major`) which defends against one case:
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| 496 |
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| 497 | ```js
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| 498 | var str = 16
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| 499 | new Buffer(str, 'utf8')
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| 500 | ```
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| 501 |
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| 502 | In this situation, it's implied that the programmer intended the first argument to be a
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| 503 | string, since they passed an encoding as a second argument. Today, node.js will allocate
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| 504 | uninitialized memory in the case of `new Buffer(number, encoding)`, which is probably not
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| 505 | what the programmer intended.
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| 506 |
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| 507 | But this is only a partial solution, since if the programmer does `new Buffer(variable)`
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| 508 | (without an `encoding` parameter) there's no way to know what they intended. If `variable`
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| 509 | is sometimes a number, then uninitialized memory will sometimes be returned.
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| 510 |
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| 511 | ### What's the real long-term fix?
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| 512 |
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| 513 | We could deprecate and remove `new Buffer(number)` and use `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` when
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| 514 | we need uninitialized memory. But that would break 1000s of packages.
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| 515 |
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| 516 | ~~We believe the best solution is to:~~
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| 517 |
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| 518 | ~~1. Change `new Buffer(number)` to return safe, zeroed-out memory~~
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| 519 |
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| 520 | ~~2. Create a new API for creating uninitialized Buffers. We propose: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`~~
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| 521 |
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| 522 | #### Update
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| 523 |
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| 524 | We now support adding three new APIs:
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| 525 |
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| 526 | - `Buffer.from(value)` - convert from any type to a buffer
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| 527 | - `Buffer.alloc(size)` - create a zero-filled buffer
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| 528 | - `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` - create an uninitialized buffer with given size
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| 529 |
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| 530 | This solves the core problem that affected `ws` and `bittorrent-dht` which is
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| 531 | `Buffer(variable)` getting tricked into taking a number argument.
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| 532 |
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| 533 | This way, existing code continues working and the impact on the npm ecosystem will be
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| 534 | minimal. Over time, npm maintainers can migrate performance-critical code to use
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| 535 | `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` instead of `new Buffer(number)`.
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| 536 |
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| 537 |
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| 538 | ### Conclusion
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| 539 |
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| 540 | We think there's a serious design issue with the `Buffer` API as it exists today. It
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| 541 | promotes insecure software by putting high-risk functionality into a convenient API
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| 542 | with friendly "developer ergonomics".
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| 543 |
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| 544 | This wasn't merely a theoretical exercise because we found the issue in some of the
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| 545 | most popular npm packages.
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| 546 |
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| 547 | Fortunately, there's an easy fix that can be applied today. Use `safe-buffer` in place of
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| 548 | `buffer`.
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| 549 |
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| 550 | ```js
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| 551 | var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
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| 552 | ```
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| 553 |
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| 554 | Eventually, we hope that node.js core can switch to this new, safer behavior. We believe
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| 555 | the impact on the ecosystem would be minimal since it's not a breaking change.
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| 556 | Well-maintained, popular packages would be updated to use `Buffer.alloc` quickly, while
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| 557 | older, insecure packages would magically become safe from this attack vector.
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| 558 |
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| 559 |
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| 560 | ## links
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| 561 |
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| 562 | - [Node.js PR: buffer: throw if both length and enc are passed](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514)
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| 563 | - [Node Security Project disclosure for `ws`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67)
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| 564 | - [Node Security Project disclosure for`bittorrent-dht`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68)
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| 565 |
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| 566 |
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| 567 | ## credit
|
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| 568 |
|
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| 569 | The original issues in `bittorrent-dht`
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| 570 | ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68)) and
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| 571 | `ws` ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67)) were discovered by
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| 572 | [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and
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| 573 | [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/).
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| 574 |
|
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| 575 | Thanks to [Adam Baldwin](https://github.com/evilpacket) for helping disclose these issues
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| 576 | and for his work running the [Node Security Project](https://nodesecurity.io/).
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| 577 |
|
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| 578 | Thanks to [John Hiesey](https://github.com/jhiesey) for proofreading this README and
|
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| 579 | auditing the code.
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| 580 |
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| 581 |
|
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| 582 | ## license
|
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| 583 |
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| 584 | MIT. Copyright (C) [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org)
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