Quick answers
- Is This vulnerability exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of This vulnerability being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is This vulnerability?
- Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 10, published 18 September 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- vm2 (npm) < 3.12.1; Vm2 NodeVM < 3.12.1.
- Is there a fix for This vulnerability?
- Yes: fixed in 3.12.1. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
- How is This vulnerability attacked?
- It is attacked over the network.
- Am I affected?
- Check whether you run vm2 (npm) or Vm2 NodeVM at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
How to fix
- Fixed in: 3.12.1
Technical details
The DANGEROUS_BUILTINS denylist in NodeVM fails to include child_process, allowing attackers to require() it directly when NodeVM is configured with builtin:['*'] or explicit child_process allowance. This protection mechanism failure (CWE-693) enables arbitrary command execution on the host system. The vulnerability requires application-level misconfiguration that explicitly permits builtins or child_process access.
Affected products
- vm2 NodeVM < 3.12.1
Timeline
- 2026-09-18: disclosed