VulnerabilityPublished 13 May 2026

CVE-2026-44003: patriksimek vm2 · Protection Mechanism Failure

Affects patriksimek vm2Source CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 3.11.0 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.11.0

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 May 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 30 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade patriksimek vm2 to 3.11.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
patriksimekvm2	Affected <3.11.0	Fixed in 3.11.0
npmvm2`pkg:npm/vm2`Other threats	Affected <3.11.0	Fixed in 3.11.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade vm2 to version 3.11.0 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. Since this is an open source product and not a cloud service, remediation depends on applying the official patch by updating the software. Patch status is confirmed fixed in version 3.11.0.

Description

CVE-2026-44003 is a medium severity vulnerability in the open source Node.js sandbox vm2 prior to version 3.11.0. The issue arises from a performance optimization in vm2's code transformer that skips abstract syntax tree (AST) analysis when the code lacks catch, import, or async keywords. This bypass allows sandboxed code to access an internal variable exposing security functions, potentially undermining the sandbox's protection mechanisms. The vulnerability is fixed in vm2 version 3.11.0.

Impact

An attacker running code within the vulnerable vm2 sandbox can exploit this flaw to access internal security functions that should be protected, potentially weakening the sandbox isolation. The CVSS score of 5.3 reflects a medium impact with low complexity and no privileges or user interaction required. There is no indication of known exploits in the wild at this time.

Summary

The vm2 sandbox for Node.js versions before 3.11.0 contains a protection mechanism failure (CWE-693) due to a performance optimization that skips AST analysis if the code does not contain certain keywords (catch, import, async). This fast-path bypass enables sandboxed code to access the internal variable VM2_INTERNAL_STATE_DO_NOT_USE_OR_PROGRAM_WILL_FAIL, which exposes internal security functions such as handleException, wrapWith, and import. This exposure compromises the sandbox's security boundary. The vulnerability is addressed by an update to version 3.11.0.

CWE-693Protection Mechanism Failure (opens in a new tab)
Pillar weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Tracing (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Encryption Brute Forcing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-wp5r-2gw5-m7q7 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 May 2026, 19:10 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-693

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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