Serve-static is a popular and simple-to-use Node.js middleware designed to serve static files, making it a crucial component for web applications built with Express.js or similar frameworks. Version 1.1.0 brought a notable update over the previous stable release, version 1.0.4, primarily revolving around dependency updates. The most significant change lies in the updated "send" dependency, moving from version 0.2.0 to 0.3.0. "send" is the underlying module responsible for efficiently sending files to the client, and this update suggests potential improvements in performance, bug fixes, or enhanced features related to file delivery. Developers upgrading to version 1.1.0 should investigate changelogs for the "send" module to understand the specific benefits and any breaking changes it introduces.
Another subtle difference is the updated "supertest" dev dependency for testing, moving up from 0.10.0 to ~0.11.0. Also the release date of the newest version is significantly newer, version 1.1.0 was released in April 2014, after version 1.0.4 which was released earlier that same month. While seemingly minor, this update indicates that compatibility and testing were performed with a newer version of supertest, ensuring that serve-static remains stable during development. Both versions maintain the same "parseurl" dependency and utilize the same license (MIT), GitHub repository, and author information, showing continuity in the project's core structure and maintenance. For developers, choosing between these versions depends on their risk tolerance and dependency management strategy. If you need the newest fixes upgrading the library to newest version 1.1.0 is advisable. If you need stability, then you are better off with previous version.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 1.1.0 of the package
Open Redirect in serve-static
Versions of serve-static prior to 1.6.5 ( or 1.7.x prior to 1.7.2 ) are affected by an open redirect vulnerability on some browsers when configured to mount at the root directory.
A link to http://example.com//www.google.com/%2e%2e will redirect to //www.google.com/%2e%2e
Some browsers will interpret this as http://www.google.com/%2e%2e, resulting in an external redirect.
Version 1.7.x: Update to version 1.7.2 or later. Version 1.6.x: Update to version 1.6.5 or later.
serve-static vulnerable to template injection that can lead to XSS
passing untrusted user input - even after sanitizing it - to redirect() may execute untrusted code
this issue is patched in serve-static 1.16.0
users are encouraged to upgrade to the patched version of express, but otherwise can workaround this issue by making sure any untrusted inputs are safe, ideally by validating them against an explicit allowlist
successful exploitation of this vector requires the following:
Directory Traversal in send
Versions 0.8.3 and earlier of send are affected by a directory traversal vulnerability. When relying on the root option to restrict file access it may be possible for an application consumer to escape out of the restricted directory and access files in a similarly named directory.
For example, static(_dirname + '/public') would allow access to _dirname + '/public-restricted'.
Update to version 0.8.4 or later.
Root Path Disclosure in send
Versions of send prior to 0.11.2 are affected by an information leakage vulnerability which may allow an attacker to enumerate paths on the server filesystem.
Update to version 0.11.1 or later.
send vulnerable to template injection that can lead to XSS
passing untrusted user input - even after sanitizing it - to SendStream.redirect() may execute untrusted code
this issue is patched in send 0.19.0
users are encouraged to upgrade to the patched version of express, but otherwise can workaround this issue by making sure any untrusted inputs are safe, ideally by validating them against an explicit allowlist
successful exploitation of this vector requires the following:
mime Regular Expression Denial of Service when MIME lookup performed on untrusted user input
Affected versions of mime are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when a mime lookup is performed on untrusted user input.
Update to version 2.0.3 or later.
debug Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity vulnerability
A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in debug-js debug up to 3.0.x. This affects the function useColors of the file src/node.js. The manipulation of the argument str leads to inefficient regular expression complexity. Upgrading to version 3.1.0 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is c38a0166c266a679c8de012d4eaccec3f944e685. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier VDB-217665 was assigned to this vulnerability. The patch has been backported to the 2.6.x branch in version 2.6.9.
Regular Expression Denial of Service in debug
Affected versions of debug are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when untrusted user input is passed into the o formatter.
As it takes 50,000 characters to block the event loop for 2 seconds, this issue is a low severity issue.
This was later re-introduced in version v3.2.0, and then repatched in versions 3.2.7 and 4.3.1.
Version 2.x.x: Update to version 2.6.9 or later. Version 3.1.x: Update to version 3.1.0 or later. Version 3.2.x: Update to version 3.2.7 or later. Version 4.x.x: Update to version 4.3.1 or later.
Regular Expression Denial of Service in fresh
Affected versions of fresh are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when parsing specially crafted user input.
Update to version 0.5.2 or later.
