Detect vm2 Sandbox Escape via JSPI-backed Promise .finally() Species Bypass in Google Chronicle
Detects exploitation of CVE-2026-47210, a critical sandbox escape vulnerability in the npm vm2 library (versions <= 3.11.3). The vulnerability abuses the JavaScript Promise Integration (JSPI) mechanism and the Promise species pattern in .finally() to escape the vm2 sandbox and execute arbitrary code on the host. A public PoC exists and exploitation grants full host access with the privileges of the Node.js process.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Execution Privilege Escalation
YARA-L Detection Query
rule cve_2026_47210_vm2_sandbox_escape {
meta:
author = "df00tech"
description = "Detects vm2 sandbox escape via JSPI Promise.finally species bypass (CVE-2026-47210)"
severity = "CRITICAL"
priority = "HIGH"
cve = "CVE-2026-47210"
events:
$node_proc.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
$node_proc.principal.process.file.full_path = /node/ nocase
(
$node_proc.target.process.command_line = /vm2/ nocase
or $node_proc.principal.process.command_line = /vm2/ nocase
)
$child_proc.metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
$child_proc.principal.process.file.full_path = /node/ nocase
$child_proc.target.process.command_line = /(execSync|spawnSync|child_process|exec\()/ nocase
not $child_proc.target.process.file.full_path = /\/usr\/bin\// nocase
not $child_proc.target.process.file.full_path = /npm/ nocase
$node_proc.principal.hostname = $child_proc.principal.hostname
$node_proc.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds < $child_proc.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds
($child_proc.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds - $node_proc.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds) < 300
condition:
$node_proc and $child_proc
}YARA-L 2.0 rule for Google Chronicle correlating a Node.js vm2 invocation with a subsequent child process execution call within 5 minutes on the same host, indicating sandbox escape exploitation.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Applications that legitimately sandbox user scripts via vm2 and also manage worker processes for scaling
- Node.js backend services using vm2 for plugin isolation that spawn helper binaries
- Automated penetration testing or red team exercises targeting vm2 in authorized environments
- Development environments where vm2-powered REPLs or code runners also invoke shell commands
Other platforms for CVE-2026-47210
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1vm2 JSPI Species Bypass — Host Process Execution via Promise.finally
Expected signal: Process creation event: node spawning child process (sh -c 'id > /tmp/vm2_escape_test.txt') or direct execSync call visible in process audit logs. File creation event for /tmp/vm2_escape_test.txt by the node process.
- Test 2vm2 Sandbox Escape — Environment Variable Exfiltration
Expected signal: Node.js process accessing environment variables in a vm2 run context. Application-layer logging may show unexpected JSON serialization of env object. No child process is spawned, so EDR process-tree signals may not fire — rely on vm2 audit logging if enabled.
- Test 3vm2 Version Audit and Vulnerable Instance Discovery
Expected signal: Process creation events for find and node commands reading package.json files. File access events on node_modules directories. No malicious activity — this is a discovery/audit test.
- Test 4vm2 Sandbox Escape on Windows — Host Command Execution via species bypass
Expected signal: Windows Security Event Log (Event ID 4688) showing node.exe creating a child process (cmd.exe or conhost.exe). EDR telemetry showing process tree: node.exe -> cmd.exe with whoami command. File creation event for C:\Temp\vm2_escape.txt.
References (5)
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/security/advisories/GHSA-6j2x-vhqr-qr7q
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/commit/6915fa4d9bcebd47b9a4f39a1adc1aa94ef6ffc6
- https://github.com/patriksimek/vm2/releases/tag/v3.11.4
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-47210
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6j2x-vhqr-qr7q
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