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Fencer Vulns
high 8.5

CVE-2026-43998 json

vm2: NodeVM require.root bypass via symlink traversal allows sandbox escape

published 2026-05-07 6 mo ago modified 2026-10-26 14 d ago also EUVD-2026-30068 , GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c

cvss
8.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.7%
EPSS 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 54%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js. In 3.10.5, NodeVM's require.root path restriction can be bypassed using filesystem symlinks, allowing sandboxed code to load modules from outside the allowed root directory in host context. Because path validation uses path.resolve() (which does not dereference symlinks) but module loading uses Node's native require() (which does), an attacker can load arbitrary host-realm modules and achieve remote code execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.11.0.

Patch / fix

  • npm vm2 3.11.0
  • Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 1785854226

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-2026-43998 updated cvss 8.5

vm2: vm2: Remote code execution due to path restriction bypass via symlinks

  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1 ansible-automation-platform/automation-portal 1785854226
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:50850
  • Red Hat Developer Hub 1 rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

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

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
5 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.72% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 54% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CISA ADP 3.1 8.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 8.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm vm2
>=3.10.5, <3.11.0
3.11.0

Affected products

  • patriksimek vm2
  • Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1
  • Red Hat Red Hat Developer Hub

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

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.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.