Webpack 4.25.0, released on November 5, 2018, builds upon the solid foundation of its predecessor, version 4.24.0, released just days prior. While both versions share the same core functionality as a powerful module bundler designed for modern web applications, a closer look reveals subtle yet impactful differences. Developers using Webpack to manage their project's assets will find that version 4.25.0 contains some bug fixes and performance improvements.
Upon examining the packages' metadata, it appears that the core dependencies and devDependencies remain largely consistent between the two versions. Both utilize a wide array of tools like ajv, acorn, eslint, and various loaders for different file types. However, the 'dist' object reveals a slight increase in 'fileCount' (345 vs 343) and 'unpackedSize' (1367575 vs 1359042) in version 4.25.0. This suggests that the newer version incorporates some additional files or modifications that contribute to a slightly larger overall size, potentially related to enhancements or bug fixes contained.
For developers, this increment between the two versions means that upgrading to 4.25.0 is recommended to leverage the latest refinements. Before updating, developers should consult the official Webpack changelog or release notes for a comprehensive list of changes and migration guidance to avoid potential compatibility issues with their existing configurations and plugins. While the high-level functionalities are the same, staying updated ensures access to the most stable and optimized version of this crucial tool.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 4.25.0 of the package
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.
Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS)
npm ssri 5.2.2-6.0.1 and 7.0.0-8.0.0, processes SRIs using a regular expression which is vulnerable to a denial of service. Malicious SRIs could take an extremely long time to process, leading to denial of service. This issue only affects consumers using the strict option.
Cross-Site Scripting in serialize-javascript
Versions of serialize-javascript prior to 2.1.1 are vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The package fails to sanitize serialized regular expressions. This vulnerability does not affect Node.js applications.
Upgrade to version 2.1.1 or later.
Insecure serialization leading to RCE in serialize-javascript
serialize-javascript prior to 3.1.0 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary code via the function "deleteFunctions" within "index.js".
An object such as {"foo": /1"/, "bar": "a\"@__R-<UID>-0__@"} was serialized as {"foo": /1"/, "bar": "a\/1"/}, which allows an attacker to escape the bar key. This requires the attacker to control the values of both foo and bar and guess the value of <UID>. The UID has a keyspace of approximately 4 billion making it a realistic network attack.
