---
id: CVE-2026-43998
title: vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js
summary: >-
  vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js. In 3.10.5, NodeVM's require.root
  path restriction can be bypassed using filesystem symlinks, allowing sandboxed
  code to load modules from outside the allowed root directory in host context.
  B…
severity: high
cvss: 8.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-59
  - CWE-59
vendor: vm2_project
product: vm2
affected:
  - vm2 = 3.10.5
published: '2026-05-13'
updated: '2026-08-06'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43998'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50850'
    label: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43998'
    label: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2477206'
    label: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
  - url: 'https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c'
    label: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-43998.json
    label: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00851
epssPercentile: 0.56524
ingestedAt: '2026-08-06T13:59:37.329Z'
---

## Overview

vm2 is an open source vm/sandbox for Node.js. In 3.10.5, NodeVM's require.root path restriction can be bypassed using filesystem symlinks, allowing sandboxed code to load modules from outside the allowed root directory in host context. Because path validation uses path.resolve() (which does not dereference symlinks) but module loading uses Node's native require() (which does), an attacker can load arbitrary host-realm modules and achieve remote code execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.11.0.

## Affected

- `vm2 = 3.10.5`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.