CVE-2026-115352
Mistune before 3.3.0 Quadratic-Time DoS via Unmatched Brackets in Inline Parser
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 Quadratic-Time DoS via Unmatched Brackets in Inline Parser
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
CVE-2026-115352- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-407
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-108421 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
EUVD-2026-108421- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-84gc-h84g-h8g5 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser...
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
GHSA-84gc-h84g-h8g5- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-407
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
CVE-2026-115352- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-407
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 Quadratic-Time DoS via Unmatched Brackets in Inline Parser
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
CVE-2026-115352- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-407
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-115352 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-115352- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-4792 7.5
python-mistune security update
The python-mistune package is a fast yet powerful Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins, compatible with sane CommonMark rules.
Security Fix(es):
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.(CVE-2026-115347)
Mistune from 3.0.0 before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser's parse_link_text function that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU with unbalanced brackets. Attackers can submit Markdown containing many unbalanced '[' or '![' characters, forcing repeated unbounded forward scans and tying up worker processes for minutes.(CVE-2026-115348)
Mistune from 3.0.0 before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity denial of service vulnerability in the parse_link_text function in src/mistune/helpers.py. Attackers can submit markdown with deeply nested square brackets triggering quadratic parsing time, exhausting server CPU with small crafted requests.(CVE-2026-115349)
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.(CVE-2026-115352)
- Record
OESA-2026-4792- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-11
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-115352 8.7
Mistune before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU by submitting long runs of unmatched '[' characters. Attackers can send small markdown payloads that trigger O(N^2) parse_link_text and parse_link_label probing, occupying rendering workers for 30+ seconds per 16 KB input.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-115352- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
mistuneDebian:12 | All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.4-12.0.4-23.0.2-13.0.2-23.1.3-13.1.4-13.3.4-13.4.0-1 | None known |
mistuneDebian:13 | All versions, plus listed versions 3.1.3-13.1.4-13.3.4-13.4.0-1 | None known |
mistuneDebian:14 | All versions, plus listed versions 3.1.3-13.1.4-13.3.4-13.4.0-1 | None known |
python-mistuneopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4 From an advisory covering 4 CVEs | before 0.8.3-9.oe2203sp4 | 0.8.3-9.oe2203sp4 |
mistuneUbuntu:16.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 0.6-20.7.1-1 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:18.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 0.7.4-10.8-10.8.1-10.8.3-2 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:20.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 0.8.4-10.8.4-2 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:22.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 0.8.4-40.8.4-52.0.0-1+really0.8.4-1 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:24.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 2.0.4-23.0.2-1 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:26.10 | All versions, plus listed versions 3.1.4-1 | None known |
mistuneUbuntu:26.04:LTS | All versions, plus listed versions 3.1.3-13.1.4-1 | None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases, facts, references | OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-115352 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.7) in Lepture Mistune, published October 22, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.44%, the 38th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/lepture/mistune/security/advisories/GHSA-xrpv-r66x-8p7j
vulncheck.com/advisories/mistune-before-3.3.0-quadratic-time-dos-via-unmatched-brackets-in-inline-parser
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-115352
github.com/advisories/GHSA-84gc-h84g-h8g5
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/115xxx/CVE-2026-115352.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-115352