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Mallory
CriticalPublic exploit

Sandbox escape in vm2 via inspect

IdentifiersCVE-2026-24781CWE-94· Improper Control of Generation of…

CVE-2026-24781 is a critical sandbox breakout vulnerability in the vm2 Node.js sandboxing library. It affects vm2 versions prior to 3.11.0, including versions up to 3.10.3. The flaw is triggered through the inspect functionality, specifically abuse of Node.js util.inspect internals that can unwrap proxies while rendering object internals. According to the provided content, this behavior can expose raw host objects and vm2’s internal proxy handler, bypassing vm2’s proxy-based isolation model. The documented exploit path reconstructs handler classes after leaking the proxy handler, uses getPrototypeOf trap behavior to obtain BaseHandler.prototype, and then abuses exposed host-realm functions to create a cross-realm channel to host objects. This can ultimately be used to invoke primitives such as child_process.execSync and execute arbitrary commands on the host system.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation results in complete escape from the vm2 sandbox and arbitrary command execution on the underlying host operating system. Because vm2 is commonly used to execute untrusted JavaScript in server-side evaluation services and similar multi-tenant contexts, the impact includes full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the host process and potentially the broader environment reachable from that host. The provided content indicates a CVSS v3.1 vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H and notes that no privileges or user interaction are required.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce or eliminate exposure by preventing untrusted or attacker-controlled JavaScript from executing inside vm2 instances. Treat vm2 as insufficient as a sole security boundary for hostile code. Run untrusted code only inside stronger isolation layers such as containers or microVM-based sandboxes, and restrict host capabilities available to the Node.js process. Do not rely on Node.js version differences as a mitigation; the provided content explicitly warns against treating runtime-version-specific exploit behavior as a security control.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade vm2 to version 3.11.0 or later, as the issue is patched in 3.11.0. The provided content states that the fix includes multiple defensive changes: a module-local Symbol construction token to prevent unauthorized handler construction, a WeakMap guard in getHandlerObject to block method calls on forged receivers, and replacement of the .constructor property on handler prototypes with a function that throws a VMError. Because the broader content highlights multiple critical vm2 sandbox escapes across nearby versions, operators should also evaluate whether a newer maintained release is available in their environment and validate that all related security fixes have been applied.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

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VendorProductType
Vm2 ProjectVm2application

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Social activity6

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