GHSA-xj72-wvfv-8985 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-913 vulnerability in vm2. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for vm2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
vm2 Sandbox Escape vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-xj72-wvfv-8985.
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-xj72-wvfv-8985 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 377,166 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
There exists a vulnerability in source code transformer (exception sanitization logic) of vm2 for versions up to 3.9.15, allowing attackers to bypass handleException() and leak unsanitized host exceptions which can be used to escape the sandbox and run arbitrary code in host context.
Impact
A threat actor can bypass the sandbox protections to gain remote code execution rights on the host running the sandbox.
Patches
This vulnerability was patched in the release of version 3.9.16 of vm2.
Workarounds
None.
References
Github Issue - https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/issues/516 PoC - https://gist.github.com/leesh3288/f05730165799bf56d70391f3d9ea187c
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 | 3.9.16npm install vm2@3.9.16 |
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.
Fix
Update vm2 to 3.9.16 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xj72-wvfv-8985 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-xj72-wvfv-8985 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-xj72-wvfv-8985. 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-xj72-wvfv-8985 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-xj72-wvfv-8985 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.