vm2: NodeVM require.root bypass via symlink traversal allows sandbox escape

{
  "id": "791a59999f90f15ee5d5cea73ef60dde196cb2560eff4d816a56a9b46929c053",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43998",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "vm2: NodeVM require.root bypass via symlink traversal allows sandbox escape",
    "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. 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.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-43998",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-43998",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-43998",
        "GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "408fc855f1cc1bbc2985b029465ee0e732ada433"
                },
                {
                  "last_affected": "408fc855f1cc1bbc2985b029465ee0e732ada433"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "3.10.5"
                      },
                      {
                        "last_affected": "3.10.5"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "AFFECTED_FIELD",
                    "strategy": "StandaloneSingleVersion"
                  },
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:vm2_project:vm2:3.10.5:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "3.10.5"
                      },
                      {
                        "last_affected": "3.10.5"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_STRING"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "3.10.5",
            "v3.10.5"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-43998.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:37.958057307Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-43998.json",
        "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50850",
        "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43998",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/43xxx/CVE-2026-43998.json",
        "https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-cp6g-6699-wx9c",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43998",
        "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2477206"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-59"
        ],
        "cna_assigner": "GitHub_M",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/43xxx/CVE-2026-43998.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-43998",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 505243,
  "published_at": "2026-05-13T17:19:44.406+00:00"
}