Webpack-cli version 3.3.4 represents a minor update from version 3.3.3, primarily focusing on refinements and dependency adjustments. Key dependencies like chalk, yargs, prettier, and enhanced-resolve remain consistent between versions, ensuring stable core functionality related to command-line argument parsing, code formatting, and module resolution. The core dependencies are practically the same, thus the update should not cause any breaking changes in the core functionality.
The notable difference lies in the devDependencies section. Version 3.3.4 removes the bundlesize dependency while introducing upgrades for @commitlint/prompt-cli (from 7.5.0 to 8.0.0). The inclusion of bundlesize in version 3.3.3 suggested a focus on monitoring bundle sizes during development and testing, and its removal might signify a shift in development priorities or the adoption of alternative bundle analysis tools. The update to @commitlint/prompt-cli suggests enhancements to commit message linting workflows, possibly improving the developer experience by enforcing consistent commit message formats.
For developers using webpack-cli, the upgrade from 3.3.3 to 3.3.4 is likely to be seamless, with minimal impact on everyday tasks. If the developer was reliant on bundlesize directly through webpack-cli, exploring alternative bundle analysis tools would be necessary. The updated commitlinting tools should contribute to a more standardized and maintainable project history if properly configured. Overall, the update leans towards internal improvements and won't drastically alter the way developers interact with webpack-cli.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 3.3.4 of the package
yargs-parser Vulnerable to Prototype Pollution
Affected versions of yargs-parser are vulnerable to prototype pollution. Arguments are not properly sanitized, allowing an attacker to modify the prototype of Object, causing the addition or modification of an existing property that will exist on all objects.
Parsing the argument --foo.__proto__.bar baz' adds a bar property with value baz to all objects. This is only exploitable if attackers have control over the arguments being passed to yargs-parser.
Upgrade to versions 13.1.2, 15.0.1, 18.1.1 or later.
Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) in micromatch
The NPM package micromatch prior to version 4.0.8 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS). The vulnerability occurs in micromatch.braces() in index.js because the pattern .* will greedily match anything. By passing a malicious payload, the pattern matching will keep backtracking to the input while it doesn't find the closing bracket. As the input size increases, the consumption time will also increase until it causes the application to hang or slow down. There was a merged fix but further testing shows the issue persisted prior to https://github.com/micromatch/micromatch/pull/266. This issue should be mitigated by using a safe pattern that won't start backtracking the regular expression due to greedy matching.
Uncontrolled resource consumption in braces
The NPM package braces fails to limit the number of characters it can handle, which could lead to Memory Exhaustion. In lib/parse.js, if a malicious user sends "imbalanced braces" as input, the parsing will enter a loop, which will cause the program to start allocating heap memory without freeing it at any moment of the loop. Eventually, the JavaScript heap limit is reached, and the program will crash.
