Webpack Dev Server

webpack-dev-server is a development server that provides live reloading for webpack projects. In versions before 5.2.7 and in version 6.0.0, when a proxy entry is configured to forward WebSockets, the server forwards non-HMR WebSocket upgrade requests to the proxy target without validating the Host or Origin headers, so the allowedHosts protection does not apply to those proxied upgrades. A malicious web page visited by a developer can open a cross-origin WebSocket through the dev server and read from and write to the proxied backend, even when the server is bound to loopback. The issue is fixed in webpack-dev-server 5.2.7 and 6.1.0, where proxied WebSocket upgrades pass the same Host and Origin validation as the HMR WebSocket, and users should upgrade to one of those versions or later. As a workaround, omit WebSocket forwarding from proxy entries that do not need it and scope the proxy to specific paths.

Published: 2026-10-22T09:31:59.124Z
Updated: 2026-10-22T13:37:47.089Z

webpack-dev-server is a development server that provides live reloading for webpack projects. In versions from 5.1.0 before 5.2.7 and in version 6.0.0, the unauthenticated open-editor endpoint validates the Host header with a regular expression meant for browser Origin schemes, so a Host value beginning with file: or with an extension scheme short-circuits the hostname and allowedHosts checks. A network peer that can reach the dev server can send a request with a malformed Host that passes validation and then causes the endpoint's URL construction to throw, and in the default non-production mode the server returns an HTTP 500 body containing the full exception stack trace, which discloses absolute filesystem paths, installed module locations, and internal source line numbers. The server keeps running, so there is no denial of service. The issue is fixed in webpack-dev-server 5.2.7 and 6.1.0, and users should upgrade to one of those versions or later.

Published: 2026-10-22T09:38:37.301Z
Updated: 2026-10-22T13:37:46.947Z

Impact: When a user-configured proxy on webpack-dev-server has a broad context (e.g. /) and ws: true, it also intercepts the dev server's own HMR WebSocket and forwards it to the proxy target. This leaks the browser's cookies and Origin header to the backend, bypasses the dev server's Host/Origin validation, and corrupts the HMR socket (both HMR and the proxy end up writing to the same socket). Patches: Fixed in webpack-dev-server@5.2.5. Workarounds: Scope user-defined proxy context to specific paths instead of /, or omit ws: true from the proxy entry when WebSocket forwarding is not required.

Published: 2026-06-15T15:00:21.488Z
Updated: 2026-06-15T16:08:35.549Z

webpack-dev-server versions 5.2.5 and earlier terminate the whole Node.js process when an unauthenticated peer sends either a normal HTTP request with a malformed Host header or a WebSocket upgrade to the default /ws endpoint with a malformed Origin header. The malformed value causes an uncaught exception in the host-validation path and crashes the dev server. Impact is limited to availability of the development server, no data disclosure, no code execution. Patches: upgrade to webpack-dev-server 5.2.6. Workarounds: keep the dev server bound to localhost (the default) and do not expose it to untrusted networks.

Published: 2026-07-03T17:23:41.451Z
Updated: 2026-07-06T15:54:11.285Z

webpack-dev-server versions 5.2.5 and earlier expose two internal developer endpoints, /webpack-dev-server/open-editor and /webpack-dev-server/invalidate, that perform state-changing actions on any GET request without verifying that the request originated from the dev server's own page. Any website a developer visits while the dev server is running can trigger these endpoints cross-origin with no interaction beyond the visit. An attacker can open an arbitrary existing local file in the developer's editor, including files outside the project root, and repeated requests can spawn editor processes and force recompilations that degrade the developer's machine. Patches: upgrade to webpack-dev-server 5.2.6. Workarounds: none.

Published: 2026-07-03T17:00:00.679Z
Updated: 2026-07-06T15:54:51.519Z