CVE-2021-41168Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service interruption via reference-table hash collisions

Published Oct 21, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Algorithmic complexity flaws in Reddit Snudown before 1.7.0 allow remote authenticated users to interrupt services with crafted Markdown. The reference table uses predictable SDBM hashes, permits duplicate labels, and traverses attacker-expanded collision lists during lookups. Exploitation requires a service that passes attacker-controlled Markdown to Snudown, where repeated parsing consumes excessive processing time and degrades availability.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.79%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Algorithmic complexity flaws in Reddit Snudown before 1.7.0 allow remote authenticated users to interrupt services with crafted Markdown. The reference table uses predictable SDBM hashes, permits duplicate labels, and traverses attacker-expanded collision lists during lookups. Exploitation requires a service that passes attacker-controlled Markdown to Snudown, where repeated parsing consumes excessive processing time and degrades availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-41168
Published
Oct 21, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Reddit
Product
Snudown
Classifications
CWE-20, CWE-327, CWE-400, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 21, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 1.7.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Reddit · Snudownversion=< 1.7.0

Published CVSS scores

6.5GitHub CNACVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-20Improper Input Validation
CWE-327Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499.003Application Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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