Prior to versions 7.1.0, 6.1.2, and 5.3.4, the webpack-dev-middleware development middleware for devpack does not validate the supplied URL address sufficiently before returning the local file. It is possible to access any file on the developer's machine. The middleware can either work with the physical filesystem when reading the files or it can use a virtualized in-memory `memfs` filesystem. If `writeToDisk` configuration option is set to `true`, the physical filesystem is used. The `getFilenameFromUrl` method is used to parse URL and build the local file path. The public path prefix is stripped from the URL, and the `unsecaped` path suffix is appended to the `outputPath`. As the URL is not unescaped and normalized automatically before calling the midlleware, it is possible to use `%2e` and `%2f` sequences to perform path traversal attack.

Developers using `webpack-dev-server` or `webpack-dev-middleware` are affected by the issue. When the project is started, an attacker might access any file on the developer's machine and exfiltrate the content. If the development server is listening on a public IP address (or `0.0.0.0`), an attacker on the local network can access the local files without any interaction from the victim (direct connection to the port). If the server allows access from third-party domains, an attacker can send a malicious link to the victim. When visited, the client side script can connect to the local server and exfiltrate the local files. Starting with fixed versions 7.1.0, 6.1.2, and 5.3.4, the URL is unescaped and normalized before any further processing.

https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/blob/7ed24e0b9f53ad1562343f9f517f0f0ad2a70377/src/utils/getFilenameFromUrl.js#L82
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/blob/7ed24e0b9f53ad1562343f9f517f0f0ad2a70377/src/utils/setupOutputFileSystem.js#L21
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/commit/189c4ac7d2344ec132a4689e74dc837ec5be0132
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/commit/9670b3495da518fe667ff3428c5e4cb9f2f3d353
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/commit/e10008c762e4d5821ed6990348dabf0d4d93a10e
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/releases/tag/v5.3.4
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/releases/tag/v6.1.2
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/releases/tag/v7.1.0
https://github.com/webpack/webpack-dev-middleware/security/advisories/GHSA-wr3j-pwj9-hqq6