DevOps Unleashed

This update has the ability to impact your PowerShell automation by adding a manual prompt.

Security Warning: Script Execution Risk
Invoke-WebRequest parses the content of the web page. Script code in the web page might be run when the page is parsed.
      RECOMMENDED ACTION:
      Use the -UseBasicParsing switch to avoid script code execution.

      Do you want to continue?

[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"): 

On patched systems (Windows PowerShell 5.1 after applying the update), running Invoke-WebRequest without the -UseBasicParsing parameter on an HTML page will trigger an interactive security confirmation prompt warning about potential script execution risk from web content.

# Sample script to test the new Invoke-WebRequest security prompt
# Run this in Windows PowerShell (powershell.exe), not PowerShell 7 (pwsh.exe)

Write-Host "Testing Invoke-WebRequest WITHOUT -UseBasicParsing (should prompt on patched systems):" -ForegroundColor Yellow

# This will attempt full DOM parsing (using legacy IE engine)
# On patched systems: Expect a security warning prompt asking to continue or cancel
# Recommended action in prompt: Use -UseBasicParsing
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://www.devopsunleashed.com"

Write-Host "`nTesting Invoke-WebRequest WITH -UseBasicParsing (no prompt expected):" -ForegroundColor Green

# This uses basic parsing (safe, no script execution risk)
# No prompt should appear, even on patched systems
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://www.devopsunleashed.com" -UseBasicParsing

Write-Host "`nTest complete." -ForegroundColor Cyan
Write-Host "Note: The 'curl' command in PowerShell is an alias for Invoke-WebRequest, so it behaves the same way."

The solution is to use the “UseBasicParsing” option if you are using PS 5.1. Beginning with PowerShell 6, all Web requests use basic parsing by default.