Denial of service via quadratic Markdown parsing
Published Mar 31, 2023 · Updated Feb 11, 2025
Algorithmic complexity in GitHub cmark-gfm 0.29.0.gfm.9 and earlier allows attackers to cause a service hang with crafted Markdown. The block parser's check_open_blocks loop rescans every open ancestor for each empty line after a deeply nested list, while blank-line state propagation repeatedly revisits ancestors in nested block quotes. Exploitation requires an application to pass attacker-controlled Markdown to the parser; processing time grows quadratically until service work is delayed or halted.
Summary
What happened
Algorithmic complexity in GitHub cmark-gfm 0.29.0.gfm.9 and earlier allows attackers to cause a service hang with crafted Markdown. The block parser's check_open_blocks loop rescans every open ancestor for each empty line after a deeply nested list, while blank-line state propagation repeatedly revisits ancestors in nested block quotes. Exploitation requires an application to pass attacker-controlled Markdown to the parser; processing time grows quadratically until service work is delayed or halted.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-24824
- Published
- Mar 31, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 11, 2025
- Vendor
- Product
- cmark-gfm
- Classifications
- CWE-400, CWE-407, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 31, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 11, 2025Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=< 0.29.0.gfm.10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GitHub cmark-gfm quadratic-complexity proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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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