Webpack version 0.4.8 arrived shortly after version 0.4.7, showcasing a rapid development cycle. Both versions offer the same core functionality: a powerful module bundler designed for the browser. This library packs CommonJs modules, enabling developers to split codebases into bundles for on-demand loading, ultimately improving website performance. It boasted built-in support for various file types like JavaScript, JSON, Jade, CoffeeScript, and CSS, extendable through custom loaders.
Examining the dependencies, both versions rely on the same set of crucial packages, including Esprima for JavaScript parsing, UglifyJS for code minification, and various loaders like css-loader, json-loader, and coffee-loader to handle different file formats. This indicates a stable core architecture.
The key difference, however, lies in the development dependencies. Version 0.4.7 utilized vows for testing, whereas version 0.4.8 transitioned to mocha and should. This switch suggests an evolution in the testing framework, likely driven by factors like improved features, community support, or personal preference of the maintainers. For developers, this shift is subtle but important. Mocha is a popular testing framework offering flexibility and a rich ecosystem, making version 0.4.8 potentially more appealing for developers already familiar with Mocha or seeking a more modern testing approach. The release dates also place version 0.4.8 a few days after 0.4.7, indicating that the changes were most likely focused on improving testing and did not bring breaking changes or new features.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 0.4.8 of the package
Incorrect Handling of Non-Boolean Comparisons During Minification in uglify-js
Versions of uglify-js prior to 2.4.24 are affected by a vulnerability which may cause crafted JavaScript to have altered functionality after minification.
Upgrade UglifyJS to version >= 2.4.24.
Regular Expression Denial of Service in uglify-js
Versions of uglify-js prior to 2.6.0 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability when malicious inputs are passed into the parse() method.
var u = require('uglify-js');
var genstr = function (len, chr) {
var result = "";
for (i=0; i<=len; i++) {
result = result + chr;
}
return result;
}
u.parse("var a = " + genstr(process.argv[2], "1") + ".1ee7;");
$ time node test.js 10000
real 0m1.091s
user 0m1.047s
sys 0m0.039s
$ time node test.js 80000
real 0m6.486s
user 0m6.229s
sys 0m0.094s
Update to version 2.6.0 or later.
Regular Expression Denial of Service in clean-css
Version of clean-css prior to 4.1.11 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS). Untrusted input may cause catastrophic backtracking while matching regular expressions. This can cause the application to be unresponsive leading to Denial of Service.
Upgrade to version 4.1.11 or higher.
Sandbox Bypass Leading to Arbitrary Code Execution in constantinople
Versions of constantinople prior to 3.1.1 are vulnerable to a sandbox bypass which can lead to arbitrary code execution.
Update to version 3.1.1 or later.