vulnerability / NVI-00015088 / Revision 1
Vitest Browser: Exposed Browser Mode API Can Proxy CDP and Overwrite Config Files, Leading to RCE
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for @vitest/browser, @vitest/browser, @vitest/browser, vite-plus. 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.
9.8 critical
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.
@vitest/browser
source listed>= 5.0.0-beta.0, <= 5.0.0-beta.3
## Summary Vitest Browser Mode exposes a `cdp()` API that forwards raw Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) methods over the Vitest browser WebSocket RPC. CDP is not gated by `browser.api.allowWrite`, `browser.api.allowExec`, `api.allowWrite`, or `api.allowExec`. As a result, disabling Browser Mode write and exec operations does not prevent a browser API client from using CDP to perform equivalent actions. In a verified reproduction with `allowWrite: false` and `allowExec: false`, CDP `Page.setDownloadBehavior` set the browser download directory to the project root, and CDP `Runtime.evaluate` downloaded a controlled `vite.config.ts`. Vitest reloaded the changed config and executed attacker-controlled Node.js code. When the Browser Mode API is also exposed to the network, this becomes remotely exploitable because the generated browser runner page exposes the API token, active session id, project name, and project root path needed to connect to the browser WebSocket API and select the target download directory. ## Impact This affects Browser Mode projects using a CDP-capable provider, such as Playwright Chromium, when the browser API server is exposed to the network, for example with
@vitest/browser
source listed>= 4.0.0, <= 4.1.7
## Summary Vitest Browser Mode exposes a `cdp()` API that forwards raw Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) methods over the Vitest browser WebSocket RPC. CDP is not gated by `browser.api.allowWrite`, `browser.api.allowExec`, `api.allowWrite`, or `api.allowExec`. As a result, disabling Browser Mode write and exec operations does not prevent a browser API client from using CDP to perform equivalent actions. In a verified reproduction with `allowWrite: false` and `allowExec: false`, CDP `Page.setDownloadBehavior` set the browser download directory to the project root, and CDP `Runtime.evaluate` downloaded a controlled `vite.config.ts`. Vitest reloaded the changed config and executed attacker-controlled Node.js code. When the Browser Mode API is also exposed to the network, this becomes remotely exploitable because the generated browser runner page exposes the API token, active session id, project name, and project root path needed to connect to the browser WebSocket API and select the target download directory. ## Impact This affects Browser Mode projects using a CDP-capable provider, such as Playwright Chromium, when the browser API server is exposed to the network, for example with
@vitest/browser
source listed>= 3.0.0, <= 3.2.4
## Summary Vitest Browser Mode exposes a `cdp()` API that forwards raw Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) methods over the Vitest browser WebSocket RPC. CDP is not gated by `browser.api.allowWrite`, `browser.api.allowExec`, `api.allowWrite`, or `api.allowExec`. As a result, disabling Browser Mode write and exec operations does not prevent a browser API client from using CDP to perform equivalent actions. In a verified reproduction with `allowWrite: false` and `allowExec: false`, CDP `Page.setDownloadBehavior` set the browser download directory to the project root, and CDP `Runtime.evaluate` downloaded a controlled `vite.config.ts`. Vitest reloaded the changed config and executed attacker-controlled Node.js code. When the Browser Mode API is also exposed to the network, this becomes remotely exploitable because the generated browser runner page exposes the API token, active session id, project name, and project root path needed to connect to the browser WebSocket API and select the target download directory. ## Impact This affects Browser Mode projects using a CDP-capable provider, such as Playwright Chromium, when the browser API server is exposed to the network, for example with
vite-plus
source listed<= 0.1.23
## Summary Vitest Browser Mode exposes a `cdp()` API that forwards raw Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) methods over the Vitest browser WebSocket RPC. CDP is not gated by `browser.api.allowWrite`, `browser.api.allowExec`, `api.allowWrite`, or `api.allowExec`. As a result, disabling Browser Mode write and exec operations does not prevent a browser API client from using CDP to perform equivalent actions. In a verified reproduction with `allowWrite: false` and `allowExec: false`, CDP `Page.setDownloadBehavior` set the browser download directory to the project root, and CDP `Runtime.evaluate` downloaded a controlled `vite.config.ts`. Vitest reloaded the changed config and executed attacker-controlled Node.js code. When the Browser Mode API is also exposed to the network, this becomes remotely exploitable because the generated browser runner page exposes the API token, active session id, project name, and project root path needed to connect to the browser WebSocket API and select the target download directory. ## Impact This affects Browser Mode projects using a CDP-capable provider, such as Playwright Chromium, when the browser API server is exposed to the network, for example with
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-g8mr-85jm-7xhm ↗
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
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.