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The maintainers of the Node.js sandbox library vm2 released v3.11.6 to patch five security advisories affecting earlier versions, including multiple sandbox escapes that can lead to remote code execution on the host and denial-of-service conditions through uncontrolled memory allocation. Reported flaws include CVE-2026-47698, which allows breakout via stacked Function.prototype.call indirection around dangerous host prototype mutators, and CVE-2026-47686, where unsanitized Error.cause values can leak powerful host objects such as process into sandboxed code. The release notes say the patch introduces no API changes for valid configurations while converting host errors into sandbox-realm errors to prevent host reference leakage.
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5 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
The GHSA-m5w8-4gq2-6f8x advisory for vm2's os and dns wildcard exposure was reviewed and added to the GitHub Advisory Database. The issue had been reported by offset via GitHub Security Advisory.
Security-advisories@github.com received submissions for CVE-2026-47683, CVE-2026-47698, and CVE-2026-47686, covering bufferAllocLimit bypass, stacked Function.prototype indirection sandbox escape, and Error.cause sanitization bypass issues in vm2.
vm2 version 3.11.6 was released as a patch update that closed five security advisories, including sandbox escape, host-state exposure, and memory-exhaustion denial-of-service issues. The release also changed NodeVM wildcard behavior to deny os and dns access and hardened error sanitization.
A fix for GHSA-m5w8-4gq2-6f8x was committed to vm2's main branch, adding os and dns to the dangerous built-ins denylist and blocking related module names under wildcard builtin access.
OX Security published research describing how vm2 NodeVM configurations using builtin:['*'] could expose host os and dns modules, enabling host information disclosure and persistent DNS resolver manipulation until patched in 3.11.6.
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The `vm2` Node.js sandboxing library was hit by a wave of critical sandbox-escape vulnerabilities that let attackers executing untrusted JavaScript break out and run arbitrary commands on the host. Reported flaws include CVE-2026-24120, which bypasses an earlier Promise-species mitigation to reach the host `Function` constructor; CVE-2026-24118, which abuses `__lookupGetter__`, `Buffer.apply`, and prototype traversal; CVE-2026-24781, which leverages `inspect` proxy unwrapping; CVE-2026-26332, which pivots through `SuppressedError`; and CVE-2026-26956, which uses WebAssembly `JSTag` exception handling on Node.js 25+. Across the advisories, affected versions span the `3.10.x` branch and earlier, with several issues requiring only the ability to submit code to a vm2 instance and no authentication or user interaction. The project responded with security releases `v3.10.5` and `v3.11.0`, with `v3.11.0` closing 13 advisories including sandbox escapes, denial-of-service bugs, information disclosure, and prototype pollution. Maintainers also patched a separate `NodeVM` issue tracked as `GHSA-m4wx-m65x-ghrr`, where enabling `nesting: true` with omitted or falsy `require` settings could expose the `vm2` package inside the sandbox and lead to host remote code execution. The releases added broader hardening measures such as `bufferAllocLimit`, stricter handling of dangerous built-ins, and filesystem checks, while maintainers warned that organizations using vm2 to run fully untrusted code should upgrade immediately and avoid treating in-process JavaScript sandboxing as a sole security boundary.
Jun 29, 2026
Researchers disclosed a broad set of critical flaws in the `vm2` Node.js sandbox library that allow untrusted JavaScript to break isolation and execute arbitrary code on the host system. Reports describe 11 to 12 vulnerabilities affecting versions across the `3.9.6` to `3.11.1` range, with most rated `CVSS 9.8` to `10.0`, and impacting core protections such as built-in allowlists, object handling, prototype traversal, Promise species behavior, `util.inspect`, `Module._load()`, WebAssembly exception handling, and unsafe `nesting: true` configurations. One tracked issue, **CVE-2026-24118**, is a sandbox breakout through `__lookupGetter__` in versions prior to `3.11.0`, enabling host-level command execution with no privileges or user interaction. The disclosures reinforce long-running concerns that `vm2`'s JavaScript-only isolation model is not dependable for high-risk use cases such as multi-tenant code execution, plugin evaluation, automated grading, and serverless workloads. While some reports recommend upgrading to **vm2 `3.11.2`** for the latest protections, others note that **CVE-2026-44008** and **CVE-2026-44009** remain unpatched and argue that organizations handling untrusted code should consider stronger isolation boundaries such as containers or microVMs. Successful exploitation could expose environment variables, credentials, and files, and enable full compromise of the underlying Node.js host and potential lateral movement.
Jun 29, 2026
A wave of disclosures has exposed multiple critical flaws in the Node.js sandbox library **vm2**, showing that untrusted JavaScript can break out of the sandbox and execute commands on the host. GitHub advisories describe several distinct escape paths affecting versions as old as `3.9.6` and, in some cases, up to `3.11.3`, including a breakout through Node.js `inspect`, a Promise species bypass that defeats an earlier patch, prototype pollution through vm2’s bridge to host intrinsic prototypes, and a `NodeVM` misconfiguration path where `nesting: true` lets code bypass `require: false` and load `vm2` recursively to reach modules such as `child_process`. Public proof-of-concepts show attackers recovering the host `process` object and invoking host commands, turning vm2 from a containment boundary into a route to full host compromise. Additional reporting and upstream changes indicate the problems are broader than a single bug. Semgrep documented a new sandbox escape, while vm2 maintainers added regression tests covering descriptor- and prototype-traversal techniques used to recover host constructors such as `Function`, `AsyncFunction`, and `GeneratorFunction`, as well as callback sanitization bypasses tied to Promise handling. A later roundup described five critical vulnerabilities with no practical configuration-based workaround for deployments that execute untrusted code, and urged upgrades to **vm2 `3.11.4` or later**. The advisory backlog on the project’s GitHub page shows a concentrated set of newly published sandbox escape, builtin bypass, and host code execution issues, underscoring that organizations relying on vm2 for isolation should treat affected environments as potentially compromised.
Jun 29, 2026