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Critical, CVSS 9.9amended

VM2 has Missing Error.cause Sanitization that Enables Sandbox Escape to RCE

CVE-2026-47686GHSA-m283-3h24-438v

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (vm2 3.11.6), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • npm vm2

    Affected
    <= 3.11.5
    Fixed in
    3.11.6

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS
9.9 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
  • CVE-2026-47686: 0.58% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 47.82 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Affected: vm2 <= 3.11.3 CVSS 3.1: 9.9 HIGH (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) CWE: CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure) Prerequisite: Embedder exposes a host function that throws an Error with .cause referencing a powerful host object (e.g., process) Summary I found that handleException() in lib/setup-sandbox.js recursively sanitizes sub-errors for SuppressedError and AggregateError, but completely ignores the ES2022 Error.cause property. When sandbox code catches a host-thrown error carrying a .cause that references a host object like process, it can traverse that reference to achieve arbitrary command execution on the host. The project's own docs/ATTACKS.md (Defense Invariant #3, line 54) explicitly claims Error.cause is sanitized. The implementation does not match this claim. Root Cause The handleException function (lines 869-959 of lib/setup-sandbox.js) walks the prototype chain of caught errors looking for SuppressedError and AggregateError. When it finds them, it…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 3 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-m283-3h24-438v

  2. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Amended from osv record GHSA-m283-3h24-438v

  3. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from ghsa record GHSA-m283-3h24-438v

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-47686

Advisory: VM2 has Missing Error.cause Sanitization that Enables Sandbox Escape to RCE
IDs: CVE-2026-47686, GHSA-m283-3h24-438v
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-47686 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:01 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: vm2 3.11.6. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm vm2: affected <= 3.11.5; fixed in 3.11.6

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls vm2 --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on vm2.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-m283-3h24-438v (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-m283-3h24-438v lists affected ranges: npm vm2 >=0 <=3.11.5)
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-m283-3h24-438v (OSV record GHSA-m283-3h24-438v lists affected ranges: npm vm2 >=0 <3.11.6 (fixed))

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