Vulnerability in vm2 (CVE-2026-47686)
Summary
Vulnerability in vm2 (CVE-2026-47686). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via process. Mitigation: upgrade to 3.11.6 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Affected: vm2 <= 3.11.3
CVSS 3.1: 9.9 HIGH (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H)
CWE: CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure)
Prerequisite: Embedder exposes a host function that throws an Error with .cause referencing a powerful host object (e.g., process)
Summary
I found that handleException() in lib/setup-sandbox.js recursively sanitizes sub-errors for SuppressedError and AggregateError, but completely ignores the ES2022 Error.cause property. When sandbox code catches a host-thrown error carrying a .cause that references a host object like process, it can traverse that reference to achieve arbitrary command execution on the host.
The project's own docs/ATTACKS.md (Defense Invariant #3, line 54) explicitly claims Error.cause is sanitized. The implementation does not match this claim.
Root Cause
The handleException function (lines 869-959 of lib/setup-sandbox.js) walks the prototype chain of caught errors looking for SuppressedError and AggregateError. When it finds them, it recursively sanitizes their contained errors (.error, .suppressed, .errors[]). For all other error types, it returns e directly at line 958 without inspecting .cause.
function handleException(e, visited) {
e = ensureThis(e);
if (e === null || (typeof e !== 'object' && typeof e !== 'function')) return e;
// ... cycle detection ...
while (proto !== null) {
if (proto === localSuppressedErrorProto)…
Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-47686 has been found in vm2.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like process over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 9.9/10.
What to do: upgrade vm2 to 3.11.6 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "vm2 CVE-2026-47686" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-47686 (vm2) — CWE-693 / CVSS v3 9.9
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Attack surface: process / SuppressedError / AggregateError / Error.cause
Patched: 3.11.6 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-693) exists in vm2. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via process.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of vm2. Attack surface: process / SuppressedError / AggregateError / Error.cause.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 3.11.6.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'vm2' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'vm2' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
vm2を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade vm2 to 3.11.6ステージング環境で 3.11.6 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- package github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web security-advisories@github.com