Quadratic denial of service in Mistune link text parsing
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-407.
Summary
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an inefficient algorithm in parse_link_text that handles unbalanced square brackets poorly (CWE-407). A remote unauthenticated attacker can submit Markdown with long runs of unmatched brackets to mistune.html(), which makes worker processes scan repeatedly and stall for minutes.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
Description from the CNA
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an inefficient algorithmic complexity vulnerability in parse_link_text that allows remote attackers to cause denial of service through unbalanced square brackets. Attackers can submit markdown containing long runs of unmatched brackets to mistune.html(), triggering repeated forward scans that stall worker processes for minutes.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade lepture Mistune to version 3.3.0, which fixes the flaw. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
- Fix · CNA mistune (lepture) Fixed in 3.3.0
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
lepture mistune 3.3.0
9 records Highest priority Priority HIGH 1 HIGH, 7 MEDIUM, 1 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-79440 Path traversal in Mistune include directive lets attackers read filesPriority HIGH 79
- TI-2026-79441 Path traversal in Mistune lets attackers read local filesPriority MEDIUM 64
- TI-2026-79438 CSS injection in Mistune figure directive figwidth optionPriority MEDIUM 57
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-22 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-115347
- 2026-10-22 Alias added: GHSA-8xqv-hm62-6r4g
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-26 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-26 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-11-03 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More lepture vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-79440 Path traversal in Mistune include directive lets attackers read files CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
- TI-2026-36755 Mistune: Potential DoS via quadratic-time parsing in parse_link_text CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-25521 Mistune ReDoS in LINK_TITLE_RE allows denial of service with crafted Markdown titles CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-53257 Mistune has Denial of Service — RecursionError via Excessive Emphasis Markers in Markdown CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-42736 Mistune block_parser: quadratic-time parsing on long lists of repeated reference-link definitions CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-42730 Regular expression denial of service in lepture mistune CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-115347 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-115347 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-8xqv-hm62-6r4g · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-115347 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences