Sandbox Escape in vm2

published 2023-07-13 3 y ago modified 2026-07-08 4 mo ago also GHSA-g644-9gfx-q4q4 , EUVD-2023-2054

cvss: 9.8; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 4.2%; EPSS 4.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 91%
public exploits: 0; none known

vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js. In vm2 for versions up to and including 3.9.19, Node.js custom inspect function allows attackers to escape the sandbox and run arbitrary code. This may result in Remote Code Execution, assuming the attacker has arbitrary code execution primitive inside the context of vm2 sandbox. There are no patches and no known workarounds. Users are advised to find an alternative software.

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2023-37903 updated 2026-09-17 cvss 9.8

vm2: custom inspect function allows attackers to escape the sandbox and run arbitrary code

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 rhacm2/console-rhel8
affected: workaround, no fix available

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

4.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 91% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	9.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	3.1	10.0	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub	3.1	9.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem	package	affected	fixed in
npm	vm2	<=3.9.19	no fix listed

Affected products

patriksimek vm2

Classification

Weakness

CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command

References

github.com /patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-g644-9gfx-q4q4
web, vendor-advisory
security.netapp.com /advisory/ntap-20230831-0007/
third-party-advisory
security.netapp.com /advisory/ntap-20241108-0002/
nvd.nist.gov /vuln/detail/CVE-2023-37903
advisory
github.com /patriksimek/vm2
package
security.netapp.com /advisory/ntap-20230831-0007
web
security.netapp.com /advisory/ntap-20241108-0002
web

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary