Logo Questions Linux Laravel Mysql Ubuntu Git Menu
 

How can I obfuscate (protect) JavaScript? [closed]

I want to make a JavaScript application that's not open source, and thus I wish to learn how to can obfuscate my JS code? Is this possible?

like image 381
Teifion Avatar asked Oct 11 '08 18:10

Teifion


People also ask

Is it possible to obfuscate JavaScript?

JavaScript obfuscation is a series of code transformations that turn plain, easy-to-read JS code into a modified version that is extremely hard to understand and reverse-engineer. Unlike encryption, where you must supply a password used for decryption, there's no decryption key in JavaScript obfuscation.

Can JavaScript be closed source?

While successful coverage-guided fuzzing of closed-source JavaScript engines is certainly possible as demonstrated above, it does have its limitations. The biggest one is inability to compile the target with additional debug checks.

Which of the below tool can be used for JavaScript obfuscation?

Tools For Code Obfuscation In Javascript You can use an online tool like: JavaScript Obfuscator. Beautifytools.

What is obfuscation in JavaScript?

JavaScript code obfuscation is a series of code transformations that turn your exposed code into a protected version of the code that is extremely hard to understand and reverse-engineer.


2 Answers

Obfuscation:

Try YUI Compressor. It's a very popular tool, built, enhanced and maintained by the Yahoo UI team.

You may also use:

  • Google Closure Compiler
  • UglifyJS

UPDATE: This question was originally asked on 2008, and The mentioned technologies are deprecated. you can use:

  • terser - more information in web.dev.

Private String Data:

Keeping string values private is a different concern, and obfuscation won't really be of much benefit. Of course, by packaging up your source into a garbled, minified mess, you have a light version of security through obscurity. Most of the time, it's your user who is viewing the source, and the string values on the client are intended for their use, so that sort of private string value isn't often necessary.

If you really had a value that you never wanted a user to see, you would have a couple of options. First, you could do some kind of encryption, which is decrypted at page load. That would probably be one of the most secure options, but also a lot of work which may be unnecessary. You could probably base64 encode some string values, and that would be easier.. but someone who really wanted those string values could easily decode them. Encryption is the only way to truly prevent anyone from accessing your data, and most people find that to be more security than they need.

Sidenote:

Obfuscation in Javascript has been known to cause some bugs. The obfuscators are getting a little better about it, but many outfits decide that they see enough benefit from minifying and gzipping, and the added savings of obfuscation isn't always worth the trouble. If you're trying to protect your source, maybe you'll decide that it's worth your while, just to make your code harder to read. JSMin is a good alternative.

like image 67
keparo Avatar answered Sep 30 '22 04:09

keparo


I'm surprised no one has mentioned Google's Closure Compiler. It doesn't just minify/compress, it analyzes to find and remove unused code, and rewrites for maximum minification. It can also do type checking and will warn about syntax errors.

JQuery recently switched from YUI Compresser to Closure Compiler, and saw a "solid improvement"

like image 42
Jason Hall Avatar answered Sep 30 '22 03:09

Jason Hall