Node VM Detect

A Node.js library for detecting whether the current system is running in a virtual machine (VM).
It is powered by the cross-platform C++ library VMAware.
This can be particularly useful for detecting VM environments in Electron-based applications.
For more detailed information on VM detection, refer to VMAware.

Install

npm i node-vm-detect

Usage

Simply call it without any options—this is sufficient for most use cases.

import { getVMInfo } from 'node-vm-detect';

const {
  isVM,
  brand,
  type,
  conclusion,
  percentage,
  detectedTechniques,
} = await getVMInfo();

Return value

Value	Type	Description
isVM	boolean	Whether the current PC is a VM
brand	string	VM brand
type	string	VM type
conclusion	string	Commentary on detection results
percentage	number	VM certainty. A value between 0 and 100
detectedTechniques	TechniqueFlags[]	List of detected techniques

Setting flags

These correspond to the setting flags used in VMAware.
For a detailed description of each flag, refer to VMAware.

Set the setting flags

Setting flags can be specified as an array in the settings field.

settings: ('MULTIPLE' | 'HIGH_THRESHOLD' | 'DYNAMIC')[]

Flag	Description
MULTIPE	Displays multiple VM Hosts.
HIGH_THRESHOLD	Increases the threshold for VM detection.
DYNAMIC	Display the conclusion message in detail.

Technique flags

These correspond to VMAware’s flag table.

Setting a preset

techniques can be selected from DEFAULT or ALL.

techniques: 'DEFAULT' | 'ALL'

Flag	Description
DEFAULT	Use all techniques except the excluded ones. This is the default.
ALL	Use all techniques, including excluded techniques.

Custom technique flags

You can selectively exclude or include certain techniques.

techniques: {
  only: TechniqueFlags[],
  disable: TechniqueFlags[]
}

Examples

1. Use all available techniques without exclusions

getVMInfo({
  techniques: 'ALL',
});

2. Increase detection threshold and show more detail in the conclusion message

getVMInfo({
  settings: ['HIGH_THRESHOLD', 'DYNAMIC'],
});

3. Exclude the VMID technique

getVMInfo({
  techniques: {
    disable: ['VMID'],
  },
});

4. Use only the CPU_BRAND technique

getVMInfo({
  techniques: {
    only: ['CPU_BRAND'],
  },
});

Same result as:

getVMInfo({
  techniques: {
    only: ['VMID', 'CPU_BRAND'],
    disable: ['VMID'],
  },
});

Detection Module

By default, the detection module (.node) is automatically located based on the installed path node_modules/node-vm-detect.

Extracting Modules

However, in cases where the module needs to be used from a separate path for various reasons (e.g., adding code signing, not loading libraries from node_modules, etc.), you can extract the .node files from node_modules.

npx node-vm-detect extract -d {{destination}} -p {{platform}} -a {{arch}}

Example

Extract only x86_64 binaries for Windows and Linux into the /node-vm-detect directory of the current project:

npx node-vm-detect extract -d node-vm-detect -p win32 linux -a x64

Custom Path

You can specify a custom path for the extracted modules using the moduleRootoption.
In this case, the module files must exist under the appropriate moduleRoot/platform/arch directory structure.

Example

In Electron, specify /node-vm-detect under the app path:

import path from 'path';
import {app} from 'electron';

getVMInfo({
  moduleRoot: path.resolve(app.getAppPath(), 'node-vm-detect'),
})

Child Process

By default, VM detection runs in the current process.
If you want to distribute load or run each detection independently without caching results, use the runOnChild option to execute in a child process.
When runOnChild is enabled, a child Node process is spawned via fork.

getVMInfo({
  runOnChild: true,
});

Extracting Child Process Module & Custom Path

Like the detection module, the child process module is automatically located based on node_modules/node-vm-detect, and can also be custom-extracted and configured.
When extracted, the module file name is fixed as node-vm-dectect-child.js.

npx node-vm-detect extract -d {{destination}} -c

Extraction Example

Extract to the /node-vm-detect directory in the current project:

npx node-vm-detect extract -d node-vm-detect -c

Custom Path

In Electron, specify /node-vm-detect/node-vm-detect-child.js under the app path:

import path from 'path';
import {app} from 'electron';

getVMInfo({
  runOnChild: path.resolve(app.getAppPath(), 'node-vm-detect', 'node-vm-detect-child.js'),
});

Administrator Privileges

Some VM detection techniques require administrator privileges.
node-vm-detect does not request elevated privileges on its own, so run Node with administrator privileges when necessary.

• In Electron, it is recommended not to run Electron itself with administrator privileges. Instead, run Electron with normal privileges and execute a separate process with administrator privileges specifically for detection.

Supported Platforms & Requirements

Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows. Requires Node.js 18 (Electron 23) or later.

• VMAware supports 32-bit, but this library only supports 64-bit platforms.

TODOS

• Deno support with Deno FFI
• Include other VM detection packages

LICENSE

MIT