GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm

GHSA-vwrp-x96c-mhwq vm2: Mutable Proxies for Host Intrinsic Prototypes Allows Sandbox Escape

CRITICAL Published 2026-05-07 Modified 2026-05-14 Official page ↗
Aliases
CVE-2026-44005
Ecosystem
npm
Packages
vm2
Severity
Critical
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H
Weaknesses
CWE-1321, CWE-94
Reviewed
2026-05-07

Affected packages

• npm vm2: >= 3.9.6, < 3.11.0 → fixed in 3.11.0

Description

Summary vm2's bridge exposes mutable proxies for real host-realm intrinsic prototypes and then forwards sandbox writes into the underlying host objects with otherReflectSet() and otherReflectDefineProperty(), which lets attacker-controlled JavaScript running in a default VM or inherited NodeVM mutate shared host Object.prototype, Array.prototype, and Function.prototype from inside the sandbox. Details BaseHandler.apply() unwraps sandbox-controlled receivers and arguments with otherFromThis() / otherFromThisArguments() and then directly invokes the real host function with ret = otherReflectApply(object, context, args), so any default-exposed host function that can surface a prototype getter becomes a prototype-walking primitive (lib/bridge.js:665-676). BaseHandler.get() special-cases __proto__ and returns the host-side descriptor or proxy target prototype, which is enough for the attacker to reuse the host __lookupGetter__('__proto__') accessor repeatedly until the walk lands on host Object.prototype, Array.prototype, or Function.prototype (lib/bridge.js:590-616). Once the attacker has a proxy to a host intrinsic prototype, BaseHandler.set() performs value = otherFromThis(value); return otherReflectSet(object, key, value) === true;, which writes attacker-controlled data directly into the shared host object instead of keeping the mutation sandbox-local; BaseHandler.defineProperty() repeats the same design at otherReflectDefineProperty(object, prop, otherDesc) for descriptor-based writes (lib/bridge.js:641-649, lib/bridge.js:753-774). Existing validation does not stop the attack because the constructor filter only blocks one dangerous-property access pattern, setPrototypeOf() only blocks prototype replacement rather than ordinary property assignment, and containsDangerousConstructor() only protects one later re-unwrapping path instead of the initial host-prototype write sink (lib/bridge.js:494-530, lib/bridge.js:595-610, lib/bridge.js:660-662). PoC Run the following code snippet and observe that the value of vm2EscapeMarker is polluted: ``` const { VM } = require('vm2'); const vm = new VM(); vm.run(` const g = ({}).__lookupGetter__; const a = Buffer.apply; const p = a.apply(g, [Buffer, ['__proto__']]); const hostObjectProto = p.call(p.call(p.call(p.call(Buffer.of())))); hostObjectProto.vm2EscapeMarker = 'polluted-object-prototype'; `); console.log({}.vm2EscapeMarker) ``` Impact Sandbox escape and prototype pollution.

Related

Alias · CVE (1)

  • CVE-2026-44005 vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js. vulnerability

Weakness · CWE (2)

  • CWE-1321 Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes weakness
  • CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code weakness

References