The html-webpack-plugin, a crucial tool for simplifying HTML file creation within webpack workflows, saw a minor version bump from 3.0.3 to 3.0.4 in early March 2018. While both versions share the same core functionality, description, dependencies, and peer dependency requirements regarding webpack versions (compatible with versions 1 through 4), a few subtle differences exist.
The dependency tree remains identical between the two versions, ensuring a consistent set of underlying libraries for HTML processing, minification, and utility functions. Developers can be confident that upgrading won't introduce compatibility issues stemming from dependency changes. The development dependencies, essential for testing and building the plugin itself, are also precisely the same.
The primary difference lies in the dist object, specifically the unpackedSize property. Version 3.0.4 boasts an unpacked size of 65572 bytes, slightly larger than the 64697 bytes of version 3.0.3. This increase, albeit marginal, suggests that bug fixes, performance improvements, or minor feature additions were incorporated into the newer version, resulting in a slightly larger codebase. The release dates further confirm this, with version 3.0.4 being published approximately six hours after version 3.0.3.
For developers utilizing html-webpack-plugin, migrating from 3.0.3 to 3.0.4 is likely a safe and recommended update, potentially incorporating subtle bug fixes and improvements without introducing breaking changes. The consistently aligned dependencies and development dependencies ensure a stable and predictable development experience.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 3.0.4 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.