CVE-2024-12579Network attack vector

Page breakage via unescaped comment regex

Published Dec 13, 2024 · Updated Apr 8, 2026

Regular expression denial of service in Minify HTML 2.1.10 and earlier allows remote attackers to break WordPress pages through comments. The output-buffer minification path passes attacker-controlled comment text into preg_replace as pattern material without escaping, enabling catastrophic backtracking. Posting a crafted comment requires no authentication; rendering the affected page can exhaust regex processing and break its output.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.34%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Regular expression denial of service in Minify HTML 2.1.10 and earlier allows remote attackers to break WordPress pages through comments. The output-buffer minification path passes attacker-controlled comment text into preg_replace as pattern material without escaping, enabling catastrophic backtracking. Posting a crafted comment requires no authentication; rendering the affected page can exhaust regex processing and break its output.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-12579
Published
Dec 13, 2024
Updated
Apr 8, 2026
Vendor
Tim Eckel
Product
Minify HTML
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 13, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 8, 2026Record 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=0 <=2.1.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Tim Eckel · Minify HTMLversion=0 <=2.1.10

Published CVSS scores

5.3WordfenceCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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