vulnerability / NVI-00013125 / Revision 1
vm2 CLI provides no sandbox isolation - host-realm require() is reachable from sandboxed scripts
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for vm2. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
8.6 high
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
vm2
source listed<= 3.11.6
### Summary The `vm2` command-line tool installed by `npm install -g vm2` and documented in the README's "CLI" section runs the supplied script under `NodeVM` with `require:{external:true}` and no `root` / `context` / `builtin` configured. With these defaults the resolver loads every relative or absolute `require()` target through the **host** `require()` function, executing the attacker's module body in the host Node.js process before the result is ever proxied back into the sandbox. A single attacker-controlled file passed to `vm2 ./script.js` can call `require(__filename)` to re-execute itself in host realm and reach `fs`, `child_process`, etc. The documented sandbox runner is therefore equivalent to `node ./script.js`. No additional files, flags, or user interaction are required. ### Details The vulnerability lets a **malicious sandboxed script** - the file argument to the documented `vm2 ` CLI - execute arbitrary code in the **host Node.js process**, crossing the sandbox → host boundary that vm2 is meant to enforce. #### Vulnerable code path 1. **Source** - `bin/vm2:3` → `lib/cli.js:7-18`. `process.argv[2]` is the attacker-authored script path. The CLI invokes:
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-jxxv-8r27-vm4p ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.