HtmlWebpackPlugin saw a version bump from 2.23.0 to 2.24.0, bringing subtle yet potentially important changes for webpack users. This plugin simplifies HTML file creation for webpack bundles, managing the inclusion of scripts and stylesheets automatically.
Looking at the dependency updates, lodash moves from version ^4.14.2 to ^4.16.4, indicating possible performance improvements and bug fixes within the utility library. Bluebird, a promise library, updates from ^3.4.1 to ^3.4.6, offering enhanced promise handling and reliability. The loader-utils dependency sees a minor update from ^0.2.15 to ^0.2.16, likely addressing compatibility or feature enhancements for webpack loaders. pretty-error jumps from ^2.0.0 to ^2.0.2, suggesting improved error reporting and readability during development. Finally, html-minifier is upgraded from ^3.0.2 to ^3.1.0, which could lead to better HTML optimization and smaller file sizes.
A notable change is in the peerDependencies. Version 2.23.0 declared webpack:"*", meaning it was intended to work with any version of webpack. However, version 2.24.0 restricts this to webpack":"1 || ^2.1.0-beta". This specifies compatibility with webpack version 1 or any version 2.1.0 beta or higher which might introduce breaking changes if you rely on Webpack 2.0.x.
The release date is also interesting; both versions released on the same day (2016-10-21), one hour apart, suggesting a quick patch or refinement after the initial release. These combined updates, especially the dependency constraints, signal a more refined and potentially stable release although require increased attention for those on Webpack 2.0.x.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 2.24.0 of the package
Prototype pollution in webpack loader-utils
Prototype pollution vulnerability in function parseQuery in parseQuery.js in webpack loader-utils prior to version 2.0.3 via the name variable in parseQuery.js.
Prototype Pollution in JSON5 via Parse Method
The parse method of the JSON5 library before and including version 2.2.1 does not restrict parsing of keys named __proto__, allowing specially crafted strings to pollute the prototype of the resulting object.
This vulnerability pollutes the prototype of the object returned by JSON5.parse and not the global Object prototype, which is the commonly understood definition of Prototype Pollution. However, polluting the prototype of a single object can have significant security impact for an application if the object is later used in trusted operations.
This vulnerability could allow an attacker to set arbitrary and unexpected keys on the object returned from JSON5.parse. The actual impact will depend on how applications utilize the returned object and how they filter unwanted keys, but could include denial of service, cross-site scripting, elevation of privilege, and in extreme cases, remote code execution.
This vulnerability is patched in json5 v2.2.2 and later. A patch has also been backported for json5 v1 in versions v1.0.2 and later.
Suppose a developer wants to allow users and admins to perform some risky operation, but they want to restrict what non-admins can do. To accomplish this, they accept a JSON blob from the user, parse it using JSON5.parse, confirm that the provided data does not set some sensitive keys, and then performs the risky operation using the validated data:
const JSON5 = require('json5');
const doSomethingDangerous = (props) => {
if (props.isAdmin) {
console.log('Doing dangerous thing as admin.');
} else {
console.log('Doing dangerous thing as user.');
}
};
const secCheckKeysSet = (obj, searchKeys) => {
let searchKeyFound = false;
Object.keys(obj).forEach((key) => {
if (searchKeys.indexOf(key) > -1) {
searchKeyFound = true;
}
});
return searchKeyFound;
};
const props = JSON5.parse('{"foo": "bar"}');
if (!secCheckKeysSet(props, ['isAdmin', 'isMod'])) {
doSomethingDangerous(props); // "Doing dangerous thing as user."
} else {
throw new Error('Forbidden...');
}
If the user attempts to set the isAdmin key, their request will be rejected:
const props = JSON5.parse('{"foo": "bar", "isAdmin": true}');
if (!secCheckKeysSet(props, ['isAdmin', 'isMod'])) {
doSomethingDangerous(props);
} else {
throw new Error('Forbidden...'); // Error: Forbidden...
}
However, users can instead set the __proto__ key to {"isAdmin": true}. JSON5 will parse this key and will set the isAdmin key on the prototype of the returned object, allowing the user to bypass the security check and run their request as an admin:
const props = JSON5.parse('{"foo": "bar", "__proto__": {"isAdmin": true}}');
if (!secCheckKeysSet(props, ['isAdmin', 'isMod'])) {
doSomethingDangerous(props); // "Doing dangerous thing as admin."
} else {
throw new Error('Forbidden...');
}
kangax html-minifier REDoS vulnerability
A Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) flaw was found in kangax html-minifier 4.0.0 because of the reCustomIgnore regular expression.