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Mallory
CriticalPublic exploit

vm2 Promise @@species sandbox escape

IdentifiersCVE-2023-37466CWE-693

CVE-2023-37466 is a critical sandbox escape vulnerability in the vm2 Node.js sandbox library affecting versions up to and including 3.9.19. The flaw is in vm2's sanitization of Promise handlers: the Promise handler sanitization can be bypassed via the @@species accessor property (Symbol.species). An attacker who can execute JavaScript inside the vm2 sandbox can abuse Promise species handling to escape the sandbox boundary and execute arbitrary code outside the intended isolated context. The issue is described as enabling arbitrary code execution in the context of the vm2 sandbox and leading to remote code execution on the underlying host/application context using vm2.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a sandbox escape from vm2 and arbitrary code execution beyond the sandbox boundary. In practical terms, this can result in remote code execution in applications or services that evaluate attacker-controlled code with vm2, with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate upgrade is not possible, do not expose vm2-backed code execution to untrusted users or network-accessible inputs. Restrict or disable features that allow attacker-supplied JavaScript execution, isolate the service at the OS/container boundary, and treat vm2 as insufficient as a sole security boundary. The supplied content also notes recommendations to stop production use of vm2 or migrate to stronger isolation approaches where feasible.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade vm2 to version 3.10.0, which contains the patch for CVE-2023-37466. Because the provided content also states that vm2 has had recurring sandbox escape issues and that later advisories identified bypasses of this fix, users should validate they are on a version that includes subsequent fixes relevant to their deployment and review whether continued use of vm2 is acceptable for production risk tolerance.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

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VendorProductType
Vm2 ProjectVm2application

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What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity6

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