Service interrupt via incomplete HTML declaration
Published Mar 5, 2026 · Updated Mar 5, 2026
Reachable assertion in Python-Markdown before 3.8.1 allows remote attackers to crash Markdown-processing applications with malformed raw HTML. The parse_html_declaration handlers pass non-CDATA <![ sequences to HTMLParser, whose assertion escapes uncaught instead of treating them as bogus comments. Exploitation requires an application to render attacker-controlled Markdown; applications that expose uncaught exception traces also disclose stack details.
Summary
What happened
Reachable assertion in Python-Markdown before 3.8.1 allows remote attackers to crash Markdown-processing applications with malformed raw HTML. The parse_html_declaration handlers pass non-CDATA <![ sequences to HTMLParser, whose assertion escapes uncaught instead of treating them as bogus comments. Exploitation requires an application to render attacker-controlled Markdown; applications that expose uncaught exception traces also disclose stack details.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-69534
- Published
- Mar 5, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 5, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-248, CWE-400, CWE-617, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 5, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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
- Malformed <![ Markdown crash reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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