Yargs is a lightweight node.js library designed for parsing command-line arguments, providing a simple way for developers to define and handle options within their applications. Versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 exhibit minimal differences, suggesting a very incremental update. Both share the same core functionality: parsing arguments into an argv hash without requiring verbose optstrings. The key dependency, minimist at version ~0.0.1, remains consistent, indicating no changes to the underlying argument parsing mechanism. Similarly, the developer dependencies tap and hashish for testing and utilities are unchanged.
The most notable distinction lies in the releaseDate. Version 1.0.4 was published shortly after 1.0.3, with just over an hour separating the two releases. This suggests that version 1.0.4 likely addresses a minor bug fix, perhaps an issue discovered immediately after the initial 1.0.3 release, or a very quick update. For developers, either version provides essentially the same core functionality. However, choosing the latest version (1.0.4) is generally advisable to benefit from any potential bug fixes or stability improvements, however minor they may be. For projects heavily reliant on yargs, the update should be straightforward given the identical dependency structure and minimal time elapsed between versions, pointing to a low-risk upgrade path.
All the vulnerabilities related to the version 1.0.4 of the package
Prototype Pollution in minimist
Affected versions of minimist 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 --__proto__.y=Polluted adds a y property with value Polluted to all objects. The argument --__proto__=Polluted raises and uncaught error and crashes the application.
This is exploitable if attackers have control over the arguments being passed to minimist.
Upgrade to versions 0.2.1, 1.2.3 or later.
Prototype Pollution in minimist
Minimist prior to 1.2.6 and 0.2.4 is vulnerable to Prototype Pollution via file index.js, function setKey() (lines 69-95).
