Skip to content

GHSA-28q4-xrqh-9479

Duplicate Advisory: vm2: NodeVM node:-prefixed negative builtin deny bypass exposes child_process

Critical Withdrawn Oct 1, 2026 npm
Severity
0.0 / 10
Critical · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
—
No score published
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
Fix
None yet
No fixed version published

Description

Duplicate Advisory

This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-8686-vhfx-7r3j. This link is maintained to preserve external references.

Original Description

vm2 through 3.11.6 does not normalize node:-prefixed builtin specifiers when evaluating user-supplied negative (deny) entries in a NodeVM wildcard require policy. Although NodeVM strips the node: prefix during require() resolution, negative wildcard entries are matched by exact string comparison against the canonical builtin names, so a policy such as new NodeVM({ require: { builtin: ['*', '-node:child_process'] } }) fails to deny the canonical child_process module. Sandboxed code can therefore obtain the host child_process builtin via require('child_process') or require('node:child_process'), gaining references to process-spawning APIs such as execSync and spawn, which is equivalent to host command-execution capability for untrusted sandbox code. Fixed in vm2 3.11.7. (Suggested title: "vm2 before 3.11.7: NodeVM builtin deny-list bypass via node:-prefixed specifiers exposes child_process")

Affected versions

npm

PackageVulnerableFixed in
vm2
<= 3.11.6
No fix yet

How to fix

No fixed version has been published yet. Until one is, remove or replace the package, or turn off or isolate the affected feature. This page updates when a fix ships.

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
High
Integrity (vulnerable system)
High
Availability (vulnerable system)
High
Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
High
Integrity (subsequent systems)
High
Availability (subsequent systems)
High
Exploit maturity
Not defined
Scope
X

CVSS 3.1 9.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design, Operation: Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • Architecture and Design: Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
  • Architecture and Design: Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Withdrawn
  3. Last updated by the source
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-489w-w794-jq94
vm2: NodeVM zlib Buffers expose pooled host memory across the VM boundary
High Also affects vm2
GHSA-2v2p-6j97-cjg9
vm2: Host Promise rejection from an exposed constructor can terminate the vm2 host process
Medium Also affects vm2
GHSA-5h3f-q97h-ccvc
vm2: NodeVM custom resolution bypasses external path boundaries
Critical Also affects vm2
GHSA-pq68-rvw4-xp4r
vm2 contains a sandbox escape vulnerability
Critical Also affects vm2
GHSA-f8gf-w286-fmq2
vm2: `allowAsync: false` can be bypassed through Promise thenable assimilation in VM and NodeVM
High Also affects vm2
GHSA-6rh5-qq4q-97xh
vm2: NodeVM builtin denylist bypass via fs/promises despite -fs, allowing host filesystem writes
High Also affects vm2
GHSA-8686-vhfx-7r3j
vm2: NodeVM node:-prefixed negative builtin deny bypass exposes child_process
Critical Also affects vm2
GHSA-wjwh-qqvp-g4p4
vm2 sandbox escape via WebAssembly.compileStreaming Promise species bypass
Critical Also affects vm2
Is this in your code?

MergeHarbor checks every repository's dependencies against this database, ranks what matters by exploitability and reachability, routes it to the owning team and opens the fix pull request.

Check your repos with MergeHarbor