CVE-2023-37903 — vm2
CRITICALCVE-2023-37903 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in vm2. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Sandbox Escape in vm2
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-37903 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
vm2npmDescription
In vm2 for versions up to 3.9.19, Node.js custom inspect function allows attackers to escape the sandbox and run arbitrary code.
Impact
Remote Code Execution, assuming the attacker has arbitrary code execution primitive inside the context of vm2 sandbox.
Patches
None.
Workarounds
None.
References
PoC is to be disclosed on or after the 5th of September.
Similarity with CVE-2023-37466
While this advisory might look similar to CVE-2023-37466, it is a completely different way of escaping the sandbox.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in VM2
Thanks to Xion (SeungHyun Lee) of KAIST Hacking Lab for disclosing this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | vm2 | all versions | No fix |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for vm2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of vm2 has shipped for CVE-2023-37903 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-37903 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-37903. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-37903 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-37903 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.