GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) Code Injection vulnerability in @oneuptime/common. A fix is available for @oneuptime/common — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OneUptime:: node:vm sandbox escape in probe allows any project member to achieve RCE
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm.
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
GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm 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 377,333 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.
@oneuptime/commonnpmDescription
Summary
OneUptime lets project members write custom JavaScript that runs inside monitors. The problem is it executes that code using Node.js's built-in vm module, which Node.js itself documents as "not a security mechanism — do not use it to run untrusted code." The classic one-liner escape gives full access to the underlying process, and since the probe runs with host networking and holds all cluster credentials in its environment, this turns into a full cluster compromise for anyone who can register an account.
Details
The vulnerable code is in Common/Server/Utils/VM/VMRunner.ts at line 55:
vm.runInContext(script, sandbox, { timeout })
The JavaScript that reaches this call comes straight from the monitor's customCode field, which is only validated as Zod.string().optional() in Common/Types/Monitor/MonitorStep.ts:531. No AST analysis, no keyword filtering, nothing — just a string that goes directly into vm.runInContext().
Both CustomCodeMonitor.ts and SyntheticMonitor.ts import VMRunner directly inside the probe process. So when the probe picks up a monitor and runs it, the escape executes in the probe's own process — not a child process, not a container.
Two things make this especially bad:
First, the probe runs with network_mode: host (see docker-compose.base.yml:397) and carries ONEUPTIME_SECRET, DATABASE_PASSWORD, REDIS_PASSWORD, and CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD as environment variables. Once you escape the sandbox you have all of those.
Second, the permission to create monitors is granted to Permission.ProjectMember — the lowest role — in Common/Models/DatabaseModels/Monitor.ts:46-51. There is no check that restricts Custom JavaScript Code monitors to admins only. And since open registration is on by default (disableSignup: false), any random person on the internet can reach this in about 30 seconds.
One more thing worth flagging: the IsolatedVM microservice is also affected despite its name. IsolatedVM/API/VM.ts:41 calls the exact same VMRunner.runCodeInSandbox() — it does NOT use the isolated-vm npm package. Workflow components and monitor criteria expressions both route through it and are equally exploitable.
PoC
- Register at
/accounts/register— signup is open by default, no invite needed - Create a project — you get ProjectMember automatically
- Go to Monitors → Add Monitor → pick Custom JavaScript Code
- Paste this into the code field:
const proc = this.constructor.constructor('return process')();
const run = proc.mainModule.require('child_process').execSync;
return {
data: {
secret: proc.env.ONEUPTIME_SECRET,
db_pass: proc.env.DATABASE_PASSWORD,
redis_pass: proc.env.REDIS_PASSWORD,
id: run('id').toString().trim(),
hostname: run('hostname').toString().trim()
}
};
- Save the monitor and wait about 60 seconds for the probe to poll
- Open Monitor Logs — the result contains the cluster secret, database password, and the output of
idrunning on the probe host
That's it. No admin account, no special config, no extra steps.
Impact
This is a code injection vulnerability affecting any OneUptime deployment with open registration or any trusted user with ProjectMember access. The attacker gets arbitrary command execution on the probe host, all cluster credentials from the environment, and with host networking can directly connect to PostgreSQL, Redis, and ClickHouse using those credentials. One monitor creation → full cluster compromise.
The straightforward fix is to replace node:vm with the isolated-vm npm package, which provides real V8 isolate sandboxing and is the standard solution for this exact problem in the Node.js ecosystem.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @oneuptime/common | all versions | 10.0.0npm install @oneuptime/common@10.0.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @oneuptime/common, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @oneuptime/common to 10.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm. 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-v264-xqh4-9xmm in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-v264-xqh4-9xmm across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.