frida-compile does not work with external modules

[Ouroboros]

frida-compile version:

16.1.5

OS:

Windows 11

test.ts

https://www.npmjs.com/package/json5

import { parse } from 'json5';

console.log(parse);

compile cmd:

frida-compile test.ts -o test.js

frida output

SyntaxError: Could not find export 'parse' in module '/node_modules/json5/dist/index.mjs'

This code works on frida-compile 10.2.5

[kursattkorkmazzz]

same problem :(

I fixed it using esbuild instead frida-compile.

[rubenvereecken]

@kursattkorkmazzz what does your esbuild config look like? I'm struggling to get frida to handle my generated import/requires for libraries. Looks like frida has its own ESM bundle format.

[kursattkorkmazzz]

@rubenvereecken
I just install using npm i -D esbuild

My tsconfig look like;

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es2016",                                  /* Set the JavaScript language version for emitted JavaScript and include 
    "module": "CommonJS",                                /* Specify what module code is generated. */
    "rootDir": "./src",                                  /* Specify the root folder within your source files. */
     "resolveJsonModule": true,                        /* Enable importing .json files. */
     "allowJs": true,                                  /* Allow JavaScript files to be a part of your program. Use the 'checkJS' option to get
     "checkJs": true,                                  /* Enable error reporting in type-checked JavaScript files. */
     "outDir": "./dist",                                   /* Specify an output folder for all emitted files. */
     "esModuleInterop": true,                             /* Emit additional JavaScript to ease support for importing CommonJS modules. 
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,            /* Ensure that casing is correct in imports. */
    "strict": true,                                      /* Enable all strict type-checking options. */
    "skipLibCheck": true                                 /* Skip type checking all .d.ts files. */
  }
}

My package.json scripts look likse;

  "scripts": {
    "build": "esbuild ./src/main.ts --bundle  --platform=node --outfile=./dist/main-esbuild.js",
    "watch": "esbuild ./src/main.ts --bundle --platform=node --outfile=./dist/main-esbuild.js --watch",
    "frida": "frida -U -f re.frida.Gadget -l ./dist/main-esbuild.js"
  }

And it just worked. But don't forget the --platform=node and --bundle parameters for esbuild.

[rubenvereecken]

@kursattkorkmazzz I'm really surprised you got that to work – what do your imports get compiled to?

Because reusing your tsconfig and esbuild command, I still get requires in the final script, which frida doesn't like:

ReferenceError: 'require' is not defined
    at <eval> (dist/esbuild.js:3110)

I also tried --runtime=v8, but same problem. That's on frida v16.5.6.

Wondering whether it's got something to do with you loading re.frida.Gadget rather than injecting. That's the only difference I can see (assuming your compiled script still uses require).

[kursattkorkmazzz]

@rubenvereecken Firstly, sorry for late answering.

Actually my output doesn't contain any import or require terms. All codes are built into one file.

This is my example output file how looks like: Drive

---

Because my device is not rooted, I prefer to choose gadget. I know that (not sure), even I use re.frida.gadget, It uses script for injecting. Also, your build file shouldn't contain any import or require statment as mine. You may need to adjust your configuration.

---

You use esbuild with --bunde and --platform parameters, right?

[rubenvereecken]

@kursattkorkmazzz amazing, thanks for all this help and input!

I should have dug deeper. Yes, I'm using --bundle, which apparently really should combine everything into one self-contained JS file. But on closer inspection, two modules are resisting this: common/file.ts from frida itself and frida-fs. All the others are successfully compiled without require. I'll do a bit more digging later to see what I can do about these!