{
  "id": 2196233,
  "title": "Critical Flaw in isolated-vm Can Lead to Sandbox Escape, RCE Threat",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/critical-flaw-in-isolated-vm-can-lead-to-sandbox-escape-rce-threat",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-20T18:20:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "DevOps.com",
    "slug": "devops-com",
    "url": "https://devops.com/critical-flaw-in-isolated-vm-can-lead-to-sandbox-escape-rce-threat/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A critical flaw in the isolated-vm sandbox, an isolated environment for running untrusted JavaScript, has been discovered by Endor Labs researchers. While isolated-vm uses stronger techniques than vm2, it is still vulnerable to a type confusion bug that allows sandbox code to corrupt memory in the host process. This bug, tracked as GHSA-864f-rcv7-6rh4, enables attackers to hijack the host's control flow and potentially execute remote code outside the sandbox. The issue lies in the C++ glue code responsible for serializing values across the sandbox boundary, written in a memory-unsafe language. The flaw is not related to the V8 Isolate, but rather the implementation in the sandbox. To mitigate the risk, developers should update to isolated-vm 7.0.1 or 6.2.0, as these versions contain patches for the vulnerability. It is essential for developers to review and strengthen their sandboxes, especially those handling untrusted code, as isolated-vm is widely used in popular production systems like n8n, Mastra, Sim.ai, and Activepieces.",
  "summary": "Developers for years have been using vm2, an open-source Node.js library, to run untrusted JavaScript inside a secure and isolated sandbox environment. It uses Node.js’s built-in modules and JavaScript Proxies and lets developers whitelist particular built-in Node modules or limit what the script can access. During that time, vm2 has been the default for safely […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Critical flaw in isolated-vm sandbox allows sandbox escape.",
    "Type confusion bug corrupts memory in host process.",
    "Update to isolated-vm 7.0.1 or 6.2.0 to patch vulnerability."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}