vm2 maintainers disclosed a fresh batch of a dozen sandbox-escape vulnerabilities yesterday, including CVE-2026-43997, CVE-2026-44005, and CVE-2026-44006 - all CVSS 10.0. The library is used by 1.3 million weekly downloads worth of Node.js projects to run untrusted JavaScript inside a supposedly safe sandbox - online code runners, chatbots, automation tools, and SaaS platforms with user scripts. Each bug breaks the sandbox in a different way: prototype pollution, sandbox escape via inspect functions, allowlist bypass to reach child_process. vm2 was deprecated in 2023 over similar issues, then resurrected last October. Over 20 documented sandbox-escape bugs - the maintainer himself recommends Docker isolation instead.
Security firm Endor Labs disclosed a critical remote code execution flaw in protobuf.js, a widely used JavaScript implementation of Google's Protocol Buffers with nearly 50 million weekly downloads on npm. The bug lets attackers achieve RCE when an application loads a malicious protobuf schema. Root cause: protobuf.js builds JavaScript functions from protobuf schemas by concatenating strings and executing them via the Function() constructor, but doesn't validate schema-derived identifiers like message names. An attacker can supply a crafted schema that injects arbitrary JavaScript into the generated function, which then runs when the app processes any message using that schema. This opens access to environment variables, credentials, databases, and internal systems - plus lateral movement within infrastructure. Developer machines are also at risk if they load and decode untrusted schemas locally. The flaw has a proof-of-concept exploit in Endor Labs' advisory and 'exploitation is straightforward' per the researchers, but no in-the-wild exploitation has been observed yet. No official CVE assigned - tracked as GHSA-xq3m-2v4x-88gg. Reported March 2 by Cristian Staicu, patched on GitHub March 11, npm patches released April 4 (8.x branch) and April 15 (7.x branch).
Blackpoint discovered a new Node.js-based implant called RoadK1ll during an incident response engagement. It's not a traditional RAT - it carries no large command set. Instead, it does one thing well: turn a compromised machine into a controllable relay point that lets attackers pivot to internal systems that would normally be unreachable from outside. It communicates over WebSocket, blends into normal web traffic, supports multiple concurrent connections, and auto-reconnects if disrupted.
TrustStrike Labs