vulnerability / NVI-00013180 / Revision 1
vm2 leaks absolute host filesystem paths to sandbox code via error stack formatting
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.
5.8 medium
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>= 3.11.0, <= 3.11.6
## Summary Attacker-controlled code can trigger a host-realm syntax error and read its stack through the vm2 bridge. Host-realm stack formatting bypasses the sandbox-side redaction, so the returned value exposes absolute paths from vm2, Node.js internals, and the embedding application. Default VM and NodeVM configurations are affected without requiring special options. ## PoC A default-configured `VM` runs attacker-supplied code. Calling `eval` with deliberately malformed source makes the host-side source transformer throw a `SyntaxError`; reading `.stack` on the caught error exposes the host call stack to the sandbox. ```js const { VM } = require("vm2"); console.log(new VM().run(` var s; try { eval("@@@ catch") } catch (e) { s = e.stack } s; `)); ``` ### Observed output ```text SyntaxError: Unexpected character '@' at makeNiceSyntaxError (.../lib/transformer.js:41:16) at transformer (.../lib/transformer.js:116:8) at Object.transformAndCheck (.../lib/vm.js:76:14) at Object.apply (.../lib/setup-sandbox.js:2585:16) at VM.run (.../lib/vm.js:529:16) ``` The stack string returned to the sandbox contains absolute host paths for `lib/transformer.js`, `lib/vm
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-x6m4-chr9-cg97 ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
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Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.