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						- # safe-buffer [![travis][travis-image]][travis-url] [![npm][npm-image]][npm-url] [![downloads][downloads-image]][downloads-url] [![javascript style guide][standard-image]][standard-url]
 - 
 - [travis-image]: https://img.shields.io/travis/feross/safe-buffer/master.svg
 - [travis-url]: https://travis-ci.org/feross/safe-buffer
 - [npm-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/safe-buffer.svg
 - [npm-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer
 - [downloads-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/safe-buffer.svg
 - [downloads-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer
 - [standard-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/code_style-standard-brightgreen.svg
 - [standard-url]: https://standardjs.com
 - 
 - #### Safer Node.js Buffer API
 - 
 - **Use the new Node.js Buffer APIs (`Buffer.from`, `Buffer.alloc`,
 - `Buffer.allocUnsafe`, `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow`) in all versions of Node.js.**
 - 
 - **Uses the built-in implementation when available.**
 - 
 - ## install
 - 
 - ```
 - npm install safe-buffer
 - ```
 - 
 - ## usage
 - 
 - The goal of this package is to provide a safe replacement for the node.js `Buffer`.
 - 
 - It's a drop-in replacement for `Buffer`. You can use it by adding one `require` line to
 - the top of your node.js modules:
 - 
 - ```js
 - var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
 - 
 - // Existing buffer code will continue to work without issues:
 - 
 - new Buffer('hey', 'utf8')
 - new Buffer([1, 2, 3], 'utf8')
 - new Buffer(obj)
 - new Buffer(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe)
 - 
 - // But you can use these new explicit APIs to make clear what you want:
 - 
 - Buffer.from('hey', 'utf8') // convert from many types to a Buffer
 - Buffer.alloc(16) // create a zero-filled buffer (safe)
 - Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe)
 - ```
 - 
 - ## api
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.from(array)
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v3.0.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `array` {Array}
 - 
 - Allocates a new `Buffer` using an `array` of octets.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf = Buffer.from([0x62,0x75,0x66,0x66,0x65,0x72]);
 -   // creates a new Buffer containing ASCII bytes
 -   // ['b','u','f','f','e','r']
 - ```
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `array` is not an `Array`.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.from(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]])
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v5.10.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `arrayBuffer` {ArrayBuffer} The `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` or
 -   a `new ArrayBuffer()`
 - * `byteOffset` {Number} Default: `0`
 - * `length` {Number} Default: `arrayBuffer.length - byteOffset`
 - 
 - When passed a reference to the `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` instance,
 - the newly created `Buffer` will share the same allocated memory as the
 - TypedArray.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const arr = new Uint16Array(2);
 - arr[0] = 5000;
 - arr[1] = 4000;
 - 
 - const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer); // shares the memory with arr;
 - 
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 a0 0f>
 - 
 - // changing the TypedArray changes the Buffer also
 - arr[1] = 6000;
 - 
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 70 17>
 - ```
 - 
 - The optional `byteOffset` and `length` arguments specify a memory range within
 - the `arrayBuffer` that will be shared by the `Buffer`.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10);
 - const buf = Buffer.from(ab, 0, 2);
 - console.log(buf.length);
 -   // Prints: 2
 - ```
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `arrayBuffer` is not an `ArrayBuffer`.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.from(buffer)
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v3.0.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `buffer` {Buffer}
 - 
 - Copies the passed `buffer` data onto a new `Buffer` instance.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf1 = Buffer.from('buffer');
 - const buf2 = Buffer.from(buf1);
 - 
 - buf1[0] = 0x61;
 - console.log(buf1.toString());
 -   // 'auffer'
 - console.log(buf2.toString());
 -   // 'buffer' (copy is not changed)
 - ```
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `buffer` is not a `Buffer`.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.from(str[, encoding])
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v5.10.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `str` {String} String to encode.
 - * `encoding` {String} Encoding to use, Default: `'utf8'`
 - 
 - Creates a new `Buffer` containing the given JavaScript string `str`. If
 - provided, the `encoding` parameter identifies the character encoding.
 - If not provided, `encoding` defaults to `'utf8'`.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf1 = Buffer.from('this is a tést');
 - console.log(buf1.toString());
 -   // prints: this is a tést
 - console.log(buf1.toString('ascii'));
 -   // prints: this is a tC)st
 - 
 - const buf2 = Buffer.from('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex');
 - console.log(buf2.toString());
 -   // prints: this is a tést
 - ```
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `str` is not a string.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.alloc(size[, fill[, encoding]])
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v5.10.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `size` {Number}
 - * `fill` {Value} Default: `undefined`
 - * `encoding` {String} Default: `utf8`
 - 
 - Allocates a new `Buffer` of `size` bytes. If `fill` is `undefined`, the
 - `Buffer` will be *zero-filled*.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf = Buffer.alloc(5);
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>
 - ```
 - 
 - The `size` must be less than or equal to the value of
 - `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is
 - `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will
 - be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified.
 - 
 - If `fill` is specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be initialized by calling
 - `buf.fill(fill)`. See [`buf.fill()`][] for more information.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a');
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // <Buffer 61 61 61 61 61>
 - ```
 - 
 - If both `fill` and `encoding` are specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be
 - initialized by calling `buf.fill(fill, encoding)`. For example:
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64');
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // <Buffer 68 65 6c 6c 6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64>
 - ```
 - 
 - Calling `Buffer.alloc(size)` can be significantly slower than the alternative
 - `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` but ensures that the newly created `Buffer` instance
 - contents will *never contain sensitive data*.
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v5.10.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `size` {Number}
 - 
 - Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* `Buffer` of `size` bytes.  The `size` must
 - be less than or equal to the value of `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit
 - architectures, `kMaxLength` is `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is
 - thrown. A zero-length Buffer will be created if a `size` less than or equal to
 - 0 is specified.
 - 
 - The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not
 - initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and
 - *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such
 - `Buffer` instances to zeroes.
 - 
 - ```js
 - const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // <Buffer 78 e0 82 02 01>
 -   // (octets will be different, every time)
 - buf.fill(0);
 - console.log(buf);
 -   // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>
 - ```
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
 - 
 - Note that the `Buffer` module pre-allocates an internal `Buffer` instance of
 - size `Buffer.poolSize` that is used as a pool for the fast allocation of new
 - `Buffer` instances created using `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` (and the deprecated
 - `new Buffer(size)` constructor) only when `size` is less than or equal to
 - `Buffer.poolSize >> 1` (floor of `Buffer.poolSize` divided by two). The default
 - value of `Buffer.poolSize` is `8192` but can be modified.
 - 
 - Use of this pre-allocated internal memory pool is a key difference between
 - calling `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` vs. `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)`.
 - Specifically, `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` will *never* use the internal Buffer
 - pool, while `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)` *will* use the internal
 - Buffer pool if `size` is less than or equal to half `Buffer.poolSize`. The
 - difference is subtle but can be important when an application requires the
 - additional performance that `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` provides.
 - 
 - ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size)
 - <!-- YAML
 - added: v5.10.0
 - -->
 - 
 - * `size` {Number}
 - 
 - Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* and non-pooled `Buffer` of `size` bytes.  The
 - `size` must be less than or equal to the value of
 - `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is
 - `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will
 - be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified.
 - 
 - The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not
 - initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and
 - *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such
 - `Buffer` instances to zeroes.
 - 
 - When using `Buffer.allocUnsafe()` to allocate new `Buffer` instances,
 - allocations under 4KB are, by default, sliced from a single pre-allocated
 - `Buffer`. This allows applications to avoid the garbage collection overhead of
 - creating many individually allocated Buffers. This approach improves both
 - performance and memory usage by eliminating the need to track and cleanup as
 - many `Persistent` objects.
 - 
 - However, in the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of
 - memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time, it may be appropriate
 - to create an un-pooled Buffer instance using `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` then
 - copy out the relevant bits.
 - 
 - ```js
 - // need to keep around a few small chunks of memory
 - const store = [];
 - 
 - socket.on('readable', () => {
 -   const data = socket.read();
 -   // allocate for retained data
 -   const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10);
 -   // copy the data into the new allocation
 -   data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);
 -   store.push(sb);
 - });
 - ```
 - 
 - Use of `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` should be used only as a last resort *after*
 - a developer has observed undue memory retention in their applications.
 - 
 - A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number.
 - 
 - ### All the Rest
 - 
 - The rest of the `Buffer` API is exactly the same as in node.js.
 - [See the docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html).
 - 
 - 
 - ## Related links
 - 
 - - [Node.js issue: Buffer(number) is unsafe](https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/4660)
 - - [Node.js Enhancement Proposal: Buffer.from/Buffer.alloc/Buffer.zalloc/Buffer() soft-deprecate](https://github.com/nodejs/node-eps/pull/4)
 - 
 - ## Why is `Buffer` unsafe?
 - 
 - Today, the node.js `Buffer` constructor is overloaded to handle many different argument
 - types like `String`, `Array`, `Object`, `TypedArrayView` (`Uint8Array`, etc.),
 - `ArrayBuffer`, and also `Number`.
 - 
 - The API is optimized for convenience: you can throw any type at it, and it will try to do
 - what you want.
 - 
 - Because the Buffer constructor is so powerful, you often see code like this:
 - 
 - ```js
 - // Convert UTF-8 strings to hex
 - function toHex (str) {
 -   return new Buffer(str).toString('hex')
 - }
 - ```
 - 
 - ***But what happens if `toHex` is called with a `Number` argument?***
 - 
 - ### Remote Memory Disclosure
 - 
 - If an attacker can make your program call the `Buffer` constructor with a `Number`
 - argument, then they can make it allocate uninitialized memory from the node.js process.
 - This could potentially disclose TLS private keys, user data, or database passwords.
 - 
 - When the `Buffer` constructor is passed a `Number` argument, it returns an
 - **UNINITIALIZED** block of memory of the specified `size`. When you create a `Buffer` like
 - this, you **MUST** overwrite the contents before returning it to the user.
 - 
 - From the [node.js docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_new_buffer_size):
 - 
 - > `new Buffer(size)`
 - >
 - > - `size` Number
 - >
 - > The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is not initialized.
 - > **The contents of a newly created `Buffer` are unknown and could contain sensitive
 - > data.** Use `buf.fill(0)` to initialize a Buffer to zeroes.
 - 
 - (Emphasis our own.)
 - 
 - Whenever the programmer intended to create an uninitialized `Buffer` you often see code
 - like this:
 - 
 - ```js
 - var buf = new Buffer(16)
 - 
 - // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer
 - for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) {
 -   buf[i] = otherBuf[i]
 - }
 - ```
 - 
 - 
 - ### Would this ever be a problem in real code?
 - 
 - Yes. It's surprisingly common to forget to check the type of your variables in a
 - dynamically-typed language like JavaScript.
 - 
 - Usually the consequences of assuming the wrong type is that your program crashes with an
 - uncaught exception. But the failure mode for forgetting to check the type of arguments to
 - the `Buffer` constructor is more catastrophic.
 - 
 - Here's an example of a vulnerable service that takes a JSON payload and converts it to
 - hex:
 - 
 - ```js
 - // Take a JSON payload {str: "some string"} and convert it to hex
 - var server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
 -   var data = ''
 -   req.setEncoding('utf8')
 -   req.on('data', function (chunk) {
 -     data += chunk
 -   })
 -   req.on('end', function () {
 -     var body = JSON.parse(data)
 -     res.end(new Buffer(body.str).toString('hex'))
 -   })
 - })
 - 
 - server.listen(8080)
 - ```
 - 
 - In this example, an http client just has to send:
 - 
 - ```json
 - {
 -   "str": 1000
 - }
 - ```
 - 
 - and it will get back 1,000 bytes of uninitialized memory from the server.
 - 
 - This is a very serious bug. It's similar in severity to the
 - [the Heartbleed bug](http://heartbleed.com/) that allowed disclosure of OpenSSL process
 - memory by remote attackers.
 - 
 - 
 - ### Which real-world packages were vulnerable?
 - 
 - #### [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht)
 - 
 - [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and I
 - ([Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/)) found this issue in one of our own packages,
 - [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht). The bug would allow
 - anyone on the internet to send a series of messages to a user of `bittorrent-dht` and get
 - them to reveal 20 bytes at a time of uninitialized memory from the node.js process.
 - 
 - Here's
 - [the commit](https://github.com/feross/bittorrent-dht/commit/6c7da04025d5633699800a99ec3fbadf70ad35b8)
 - that fixed it. We released a new fixed version, created a
 - [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68), and deprecated all
 - vulnerable versions on npm so users will get a warning to upgrade to a newer version.
 - 
 - #### [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws)
 - 
 - That got us wondering if there were other vulnerable packages. Sure enough, within a short
 - period of time, we found the same issue in [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws), the
 - most popular WebSocket implementation in node.js.
 - 
 - If certain APIs were called with `Number` parameters instead of `String` or `Buffer` as
 - expected, then uninitialized server memory would be disclosed to the remote peer.
 - 
 - These were the vulnerable methods:
 - 
 - ```js
 - socket.send(number)
 - socket.ping(number)
 - socket.pong(number)
 - ```
 - 
 - Here's a vulnerable socket server with some echo functionality:
 - 
 - ```js
 - server.on('connection', function (socket) {
 -   socket.on('message', function (message) {
 -     message = JSON.parse(message)
 -     if (message.type === 'echo') {
 -       socket.send(message.data) // send back the user's message
 -     }
 -   })
 - })
 - ```
 - 
 - `socket.send(number)` called on the server, will disclose server memory.
 - 
 - Here's [the release](https://github.com/websockets/ws/releases/tag/1.0.1) where the issue
 - was fixed, with a more detailed explanation. Props to
 - [Arnout Kazemier](https://github.com/3rd-Eden) for the quick fix. Here's the
 - [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67).
 - 
 - 
 - ### What's the solution?
 - 
 - It's important that node.js offers a fast way to get memory otherwise performance-critical
 - applications would needlessly get a lot slower.
 - 
 - But we need a better way to *signal our intent* as programmers. **When we want
 - uninitialized memory, we should request it explicitly.**
 - 
 - Sensitive functionality should not be packed into a developer-friendly API that loosely
 - accepts many different types. This type of API encourages the lazy practice of passing
 - variables in without checking the type very carefully.
 - 
 - #### A new API: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`
 - 
 - The functionality of creating buffers with uninitialized memory should be part of another
 - API. We propose `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`. This way, it's not part of an API that
 - frequently gets user input of all sorts of different types passed into it.
 - 
 - ```js
 - var buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // careful, uninitialized memory!
 - 
 - // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer
 - for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) {
 -   buf[i] = otherBuf[i]
 - }
 - ```
 - 
 - 
 - ### How do we fix node.js core?
 - 
 - We sent [a PR to node.js core](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514) (merged as
 - `semver-major`) which defends against one case:
 - 
 - ```js
 - var str = 16
 - new Buffer(str, 'utf8')
 - ```
 - 
 - In this situation, it's implied that the programmer intended the first argument to be a
 - string, since they passed an encoding as a second argument. Today, node.js will allocate
 - uninitialized memory in the case of `new Buffer(number, encoding)`, which is probably not
 - what the programmer intended.
 - 
 - But this is only a partial solution, since if the programmer does `new Buffer(variable)`
 - (without an `encoding` parameter) there's no way to know what they intended. If `variable`
 - is sometimes a number, then uninitialized memory will sometimes be returned.
 - 
 - ### What's the real long-term fix?
 - 
 - We could deprecate and remove `new Buffer(number)` and use `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` when
 - we need uninitialized memory. But that would break 1000s of packages.
 - 
 - ~~We believe the best solution is to:~~
 - 
 - ~~1. Change `new Buffer(number)` to return safe, zeroed-out memory~~
 - 
 - ~~2. Create a new API for creating uninitialized Buffers. We propose: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`~~
 - 
 - #### Update
 - 
 - We now support adding three new APIs:
 - 
 - - `Buffer.from(value)` - convert from any type to a buffer
 - - `Buffer.alloc(size)` - create a zero-filled buffer
 - - `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` - create an uninitialized buffer with given size
 - 
 - This solves the core problem that affected `ws` and `bittorrent-dht` which is
 - `Buffer(variable)` getting tricked into taking a number argument.
 - 
 - This way, existing code continues working and the impact on the npm ecosystem will be
 - minimal. Over time, npm maintainers can migrate performance-critical code to use
 - `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` instead of `new Buffer(number)`.
 - 
 - 
 - ### Conclusion
 - 
 - We think there's a serious design issue with the `Buffer` API as it exists today. It
 - promotes insecure software by putting high-risk functionality into a convenient API
 - with friendly "developer ergonomics".
 - 
 - This wasn't merely a theoretical exercise because we found the issue in some of the
 - most popular npm packages.
 - 
 - Fortunately, there's an easy fix that can be applied today. Use `safe-buffer` in place of
 - `buffer`.
 - 
 - ```js
 - var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer
 - ```
 - 
 - Eventually, we hope that node.js core can switch to this new, safer behavior. We believe
 - the impact on the ecosystem would be minimal since it's not a breaking change.
 - Well-maintained, popular packages would be updated to use `Buffer.alloc` quickly, while
 - older, insecure packages would magically become safe from this attack vector.
 - 
 - 
 - ## links
 - 
 - - [Node.js PR: buffer: throw if both length and enc are passed](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514)
 - - [Node Security Project disclosure for `ws`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67)
 - - [Node Security Project disclosure for`bittorrent-dht`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68)
 - 
 - 
 - ## credit
 - 
 - The original issues in `bittorrent-dht`
 - ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68)) and
 - `ws` ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67)) were discovered by
 - [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and
 - [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/).
 - 
 - Thanks to [Adam Baldwin](https://github.com/evilpacket) for helping disclose these issues
 - and for his work running the [Node Security Project](https://nodesecurity.io/).
 - 
 - Thanks to [John Hiesey](https://github.com/jhiesey) for proofreading this README and
 - auditing the code.
 - 
 - 
 - ## license
 - 
 - MIT. Copyright (C) [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org)
 
 
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