Webpack CLI version 3.3.9 represents a minor update to the popular command-line interface for Webpack, building upon the foundation laid by version 3.3.8. While the core functionality and purpose remain the same – simplifying Webpack configuration and usage – a closer look reveals subtle yet potentially impactful differences for developers.
Both versions share identical dependencies, including essential packages like chalk for colorful console output, yargs for command-line argument parsing, and enhanced-resolve for module resolution. Similarly, the development dependencies, crucial for testing and linting, are also consistent, indicating a focus on maintaining code quality and stability.
The primary difference lies in the dist section. Version 3.3.9 shows an increased unpackedSize of 223021 compared to 3.3.8's 222755. This increase, although minor, potentially indicates the inclusion of small bug fixes, documentation updates, or very small feature enhancements. Developers considering an upgrade should be aware of this slight increase in size, although it is insignificant, not really affecting the performance. Both, have fileCount 15 so it is not about the addition of new files.
While both versions target Webpack 4.x.x as a peer dependency, ensuring compatibility with existing Webpack projects, the upgrade to 3.3.9 might offer subtle improvements in performance or stability, particularly worth considering for complex Webpack setups. The release date of 3.3.9 compared to 3.3.8 hints at a focus on recent improvements, ensuring developers benefit from the most up-to-date features.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 3.3.9 of the package
Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) in cross-spawn
Versions of the package cross-spawn before 7.0.5 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) due to improper input sanitization. An attacker can increase the CPU usage and crash the program by crafting a very large and well crafted string.
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.
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.
loader-utils is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) via url variable
A Regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) flaw was found in Function interpolateName in interpolateName.js in webpack loader-utils 2.0.0 via the url variable in interpolateName.js. A badly or maliciously formed string could be used to send crafted requests that cause a system to crash or take a disproportional amount of time to process. This issue has been patched in versions 1.4.2, 2.0.4 and 3.2.1.
loader-utils is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS)
A regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) flaw was found in Function interpolateName in interpolateName.js in webpack loader-utils via the resourcePath variable in interpolateName.js. A badly or maliciously formed string could be used to send crafted requests that cause a system to crash or take a disproportional amount of time to process. This issue has been patched in versions 1.4.2, 2.0.4 and 3.2.1.
