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Vm2Application · Vm2 Project

CVE-2023-37466

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.9.19 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
vm2 is an advanced vm/sandbox for Node.js. The library contains critical security issues and should not be used for production. The maintenance of the project has been discontinued. In vm2 for versions up to 3.9.19, `Promise` handler sanitization can be bypassed with the `@@species` accessor property allowing attackers to escape the sandbox and run arbitrary code, potentially allowing remote code execution inside the context of vm2 sandbox. Version 3.10.0 contains a patch for the issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The vulnerability allows escaping the vm2 sandbox by bypassing Promise handler sanitization through the @@species accessor property, enabling remote code execution outside the sandbox context.

MitigationUpgrade to vm2 version 3.10.0 or higher, or migrate to an actively maintained sandbox alternative since vm2 is discontinued and contains critical security issues.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Vm2Application
Affected:<= 3.9.19

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate vm2 in your project dependencies
    Search for 'vm2' in your package.json file under dependencies/devDependencies, or run `npm list vm2` to list installed packages
    Affected if vm2 is listed as a dependency in your project
  2. Identify the installed vm2 version
    Run `npm list vm2` or inspect your package-lock.json file to find the exact version number of vm2
    Affected if The version shown is 3.9.19 or any version lower than 3.9.19
  3. Confirm vm2 sandbox execution is in use
    Search your codebase for imports of vm2 (require('vm2') or import from 'vm2') and usage of sandbox features such as VM, VMRunner, or the run() method
    Affected if Your application imports and uses vm2 to execute code in a sandboxed environment
  4. Check if untrusted code is processed
    Review your application logic to determine whether vm2 is used to run user-supplied or externally-sourced JavaScript code
    Affected if Vm2 processes untrusted or user-provided JavaScript code

Your environment is affected if vm2 version 3.9.19 or lower is installed and used to sandbox untrusted code, because the @@species accessor property can be exploited to escape the sandbox and execute code outside the sandbox context.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.9.19
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to vm2 version 3.10.0 or higher, or migrate to an actively maintained sandbox alternative since vm2 is discontinued and contains critical security issues.

Recommended fix High confidence

vm2 version 3.10.0 or later

  1. Identify all dependencies that require vm2 in your project by reviewing package.json and lock files
  2. Upgrade vm2 to version 3.10.0 or later by running: npm install vm2@latest or npm install [email protected]
  3. Run npm update to ensure the new version is locked in your package-lock.json
  4. Test your application thoroughly to verify sandbox functionality works as expected after the upgrade
  5. Since vm2 maintenance has been discontinued and the official description states it should not be used for production, plan migration to an actively maintained sandbox alternative such as Node.js built-in vm module, isolate, or vm2's actively maintained fork
Caveat The vm2 library is officially discontinued and should not be used in production; upgrading to 3.10.0 is a temporary fix and migration to an alternative sandbox library is strongly recommended

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Vm2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-37466 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data