{"id":"CVE-2026-9769","aliases":["EUVD-2026-64661","GHSA-892m-gcq8-2468","GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j","PYSEC-2026-3854"],"status":"published","title":"justhtml before 1.10.0 Denial of Service via deeply nested HTML","description":"justhtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","severity":{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-09","score":0.00337,"percentile":0.27247,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-674"],"published":"2026-03-17T14:07:38Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:11Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"justhtml","fixed_in":["1.10.0"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"justhtml","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"last_affected":"1.9.1"},{"fixed":"1.10.0"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"justhtml","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.10.0"}]}],"versions":["0.1.0","0.10.0","0.11.0","0.12.0","0.13.0","0.13.1","0.14.0","0.15.0","0.16.0","0.17.0","0.18.0","0.19.0","0.2.0","0.20.0","0.21.0","0.22.0","0.23.0","0.24.0","0.25.0","0.26.0","0.27.0","0.28.0","0.29.0","0.3.0","0.30.0","0.31.0","0.32.0","0.33.0","0.34.0","0.35.0","0.36.0","0.37.0","0.38.0","0.39.0","0.4.0","0.40.0","0.5.0","0.5.1","0.5.2","0.6.0","0.7.0","0.8.0","0.9.0","1.0.0","1.1.0","1.2.0","1.3.0","1.4.0","1.5.0","1.6.0","1.7.0","1.8.0","1.9.0","1.9.1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"justhtml","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.10.0"}]}],"versions":["0.1.0","0.10.0","0.11.0","0.12.0","0.13.0","0.13.1","0.14.0","0.15.0","0.16.0","0.17.0","0.18.0","0.19.0","0.2.0","0.20.0","0.21.0","0.22.0","0.23.0","0.24.0","0.25.0","0.26.0","0.27.0","0.28.0","0.29.0","0.3.0","0.30.0","0.31.0","0.32.0","0.33.0","0.34.0","0.35.0","0.36.0","0.37.0","0.38.0","0.39.0","0.4.0","0.40.0","0.5.0","0.5.1","0.5.2","0.6.0","0.7.0","0.8.0","0.9.0","1.0.0","1.1.0","1.2.0","1.3.0","1.4.0","1.5.0","1.6.0","1.7.0","1.8.0","1.9.0","1.9.1"]}],"products":[{"vendor":"emilstenstrom","product":"justhtml"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/security/advisories/GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j","tags":["vendor-advisory","exploit","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/justhtml-before-denial-of-service-via-deeply-nested-html","tags":["third-party-advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-9769","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-892m-gcq8-2468"},{"url":"https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/releases/tag/v1.10.0","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/9xxx/CVE-2026-9769.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml","tags":["package"]},{"url":"https://pypi.org/project/justhtml","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-9769","title":"justhtml before 1.10.0 Denial of Service via deeply nested HTML","description":"justhtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T13:34:15.503Z","modified":"2026-08-24T17:54:01.074Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high","assessor":"cna"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T13:42:37.965383Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-64661","description":"justhtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T13:34:15Z","modified":"2026-08-24T17:54:01Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T18:01:34.563496Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-892m-gcq8-2468","title":"Duplicate Advisory: Uncontrolled recursion DoS in JustHTML() via deeply nested HTML","description":"### Duplicate Advisory\nThis advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j. This link is maintained to preserve external references.\n\n### Original Description\njusthtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"withdrawn","published":"2026-08-23T15:33:06Z","modified":"2026-08-25T16:40:28Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:41:05.994358Z"},{"id":"GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j","title":"Uncontrolled recursion DoS in JustHTML() via deeply nested HTML","description":"### Summary\n\njusthtml through 1.9.1 allows denial of service via deeply nested HTML. During parsing, `JustHTML.__init__()` always reaches `TreeBuilder.finish()`, which unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent()`. That function recursively traverses the DOM via `_find_elements()` / `_find_element()` without a depth bound, allowing attacker-controlled deeply nested input to trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` on CPython. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Details\n\n`TreeBuilder.finish()` ([`treebuilder.py#L476`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L476)) unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent(self.document)` at [line 494](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L494). `_populate_selectedcontent()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1243`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1243)) calls `_find_elements()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1280`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1280)) to recursively search the DOM tree for `\u003cselect\u003e` elements:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    \"\"\"Recursively find all elements with given name.\"\"\"\n    if node.name == name:\n        result.append(node)\n    if node.has_child_nodes():\n        for child in node.children:\n            self._find_elements(child, name, result)  # recursive call\n```\n\nWhen the DOM tree depth exceeds CPython's default recursion limit (1000), this raises an unhandled `RecursionError`. The full call path is:\n\n`JustHTML(html)` → `tokenizer.run()` → `tree_builder.finish()` → `_populate_selectedcontent(document)` → `_find_elements(root, \"select\", selects)` (recursive)\n\nDeeply nested DOM trees can be produced by nesting `\u003cdiv\u003e` tags ~1000 levels deep. On CPython with the default recursion limit, approximately 11 KB of `\u003cdiv\u003e` nesting is sufficient to trigger the error. The exact depth threshold is environment-dependent (CPython version, recursion limit setting, call stack depth at invocation).\n\nAdditional recursive functions are affected on already-parsed deep trees:\n- `Node.clone_node(deep=True)` ([`node.py#L523`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L523)) — called during sanitization\n- `_node_to_html()` ([`serialize.py#L580`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L580)) — used by `to_html(pretty=True)`\n- `_to_markdown_walk()` ([`node.py#L817`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L817)) — used by `to_markdown()`\n\nNote: the library already uses iterative traversal in several comparable functions (e.g., `_node_to_html_compact` at [`serialize.py#L197`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L197), `_to_text_collect` at [`node.py#L161`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L161), `_is_blocky_element` at [`serialize.py#L405`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L405), `apply_to_children` at [`transforms.py#L1642`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/transforms.py#L1642)), demonstrating the correct pattern.\n\n### PoC\n\n```python\nfrom justhtml import JustHTML\n\nhtml = \"\u003cdiv\u003e\" * 1000 + \"x\" + \"\u003c/div\u003e\" * 1000\ndoc = JustHTML(html)  # raises RecursionError\n```\n\nTest environment: CPython 3.14.3, macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon), justhtml 1.9.1, default recursion limit (1000)\n\n| Input | Size | Result |\n|-------|------|--------|\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 500 | 5,501 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 800 | 8,801 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 1000 | 11,001 bytes | RecursionError |\n\nThe error occurs with both `sanitize=True` (default) and `sanitize=False`.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` during `JustHTML()` construction. The error is triggered during construction and is not avoided by `justhtml` configuration alone; mitigating it requires host-application exception handling or input constraints. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Suggested Fix\n\nConvert the recursive tree traversal functions to iterative implementations using an explicit stack. Example for `_find_elements`:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    stack = [node]\n    while stack:\n        current = stack.pop()\n        if current.name == name:\n            result.append(current)\n        if current.has_child_nodes():\n            stack.extend(reversed(current.children))\n```\n\nThe same conversion should be applied to `_find_element`, `clone_node(deep=True)`, `_node_to_html()`, and `_to_markdown_walk()`.","status":"published","published":"2026-03-17T14:07:38Z","modified":"2026-08-25T16:40:38Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":7.1,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:41:05.994358Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-9769","description":"justhtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T14:16:55.277Z","modified":"2026-10-12T16:10:00.22Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:12:41.018848Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-9769","title":"justhtml before 1.10.0 Denial of Service via deeply nested HTML","description":"justhtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-23T13:34:15.503Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:11.980088175Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:21.262447Z"},{"id":"GHSA-892m-gcq8-2468","title":"Duplicate Advisory: Uncontrolled recursion DoS in JustHTML() via deeply nested HTML","description":"### Duplicate Advisory\nThis advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j. This link is maintained to preserve external references.\n\n### Original Description\njusthtml through 1.9.1 (fixed in 1.10.0) is vulnerable to uncontrolled recursion leading to denial of service. During JustHTML() construction, TreeBuilder.finish() unconditionally calls _populate_selectedcontent(), which recursively traverses the DOM tree via _find_elements()/_find_element() without a depth bound. An attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can provide deeply nested elements (e.g., ~1000 nested \u003cdiv\u003e tags, roughly 11 KB) to exceed CPython's default recursion limit and trigger an unhandled RecursionError, which may abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process depending on the host application's exception handling.","status":"withdrawn","published":"2026-08-23T15:33:06Z","modified":"2026-08-26T01:18:21.769938467Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"},{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"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","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:42.077781Z"},{"id":"GHSA-v7cf-c9rm-wm3j","title":"Uncontrolled recursion DoS in JustHTML() via deeply nested HTML","description":"### Summary\n\njusthtml through 1.9.1 allows denial of service via deeply nested HTML. During parsing, `JustHTML.__init__()` always reaches `TreeBuilder.finish()`, which unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent()`. That function recursively traverses the DOM via `_find_elements()` / `_find_element()` without a depth bound, allowing attacker-controlled deeply nested input to trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` on CPython. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Details\n\n`TreeBuilder.finish()` ([`treebuilder.py#L476`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L476)) unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent(self.document)` at [line 494](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L494). `_populate_selectedcontent()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1243`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1243)) calls `_find_elements()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1280`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1280)) to recursively search the DOM tree for `\u003cselect\u003e` elements:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    \"\"\"Recursively find all elements with given name.\"\"\"\n    if node.name == name:\n        result.append(node)\n    if node.has_child_nodes():\n        for child in node.children:\n            self._find_elements(child, name, result)  # recursive call\n```\n\nWhen the DOM tree depth exceeds CPython's default recursion limit (1000), this raises an unhandled `RecursionError`. The full call path is:\n\n`JustHTML(html)` → `tokenizer.run()` → `tree_builder.finish()` → `_populate_selectedcontent(document)` → `_find_elements(root, \"select\", selects)` (recursive)\n\nDeeply nested DOM trees can be produced by nesting `\u003cdiv\u003e` tags ~1000 levels deep. On CPython with the default recursion limit, approximately 11 KB of `\u003cdiv\u003e` nesting is sufficient to trigger the error. The exact depth threshold is environment-dependent (CPython version, recursion limit setting, call stack depth at invocation).\n\nAdditional recursive functions are affected on already-parsed deep trees:\n- `Node.clone_node(deep=True)` ([`node.py#L523`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L523)) — called during sanitization\n- `_node_to_html()` ([`serialize.py#L580`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L580)) — used by `to_html(pretty=True)`\n- `_to_markdown_walk()` ([`node.py#L817`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L817)) — used by `to_markdown()`\n\nNote: the library already uses iterative traversal in several comparable functions (e.g., `_node_to_html_compact` at [`serialize.py#L197`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L197), `_to_text_collect` at [`node.py#L161`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L161), `_is_blocky_element` at [`serialize.py#L405`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L405), `apply_to_children` at [`transforms.py#L1642`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/transforms.py#L1642)), demonstrating the correct pattern.\n\n### PoC\n\n```python\nfrom justhtml import JustHTML\n\nhtml = \"\u003cdiv\u003e\" * 1000 + \"x\" + \"\u003c/div\u003e\" * 1000\ndoc = JustHTML(html)  # raises RecursionError\n```\n\nTest environment: CPython 3.14.3, macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon), justhtml 1.9.1, default recursion limit (1000)\n\n| Input | Size | Result |\n|-------|------|--------|\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 500 | 5,501 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 800 | 8,801 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 1000 | 11,001 bytes | RecursionError |\n\nThe error occurs with both `sanitize=True` (default) and `sanitize=False`.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` during `JustHTML()` construction. The error is triggered during construction and is not avoided by `justhtml` configuration alone; mitigating it requires host-application exception handling or input constraints. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Suggested Fix\n\nConvert the recursive tree traversal functions to iterative implementations using an explicit stack. Example for `_find_elements`:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    stack = [node]\n    while stack:\n        current = stack.pop()\n        if current.name == name:\n            result.append(current)\n        if current.has_child_nodes():\n            stack.extend(reversed(current.children))\n```\n\nThe same conversion should be applied to `_find_element`, `clone_node(deep=True)`, `_node_to_html()`, and `_to_markdown_walk()`.","status":"published","published":"2026-03-17T14:07:38Z","modified":"2026-09-10T12:25:56.970044726Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":7.1,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-674"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:56.981655Z"},{"id":"PYSEC-2026-3854","title":"Uncontrolled recursion DoS in JustHTML() via deeply nested HTML","description":"### Summary\n\njusthtml through 1.9.1 allows denial of service via deeply nested HTML. During parsing, `JustHTML.__init__()` always reaches `TreeBuilder.finish()`, which unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent()`. That function recursively traverses the DOM via `_find_elements()` / `_find_element()` without a depth bound, allowing attacker-controlled deeply nested input to trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` on CPython. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Details\n\n`TreeBuilder.finish()` ([`treebuilder.py#L476`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L476)) unconditionally calls `_populate_selectedcontent(self.document)` at [line 494](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L494). `_populate_selectedcontent()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1243`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1243)) calls `_find_elements()` ([`treebuilder.py#L1280`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/treebuilder.py#L1280)) to recursively search the DOM tree for `\u003cselect\u003e` elements:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    \"\"\"Recursively find all elements with given name.\"\"\"\n    if node.name == name:\n        result.append(node)\n    if node.has_child_nodes():\n        for child in node.children:\n            self._find_elements(child, name, result)  # recursive call\n```\n\nWhen the DOM tree depth exceeds CPython's default recursion limit (1000), this raises an unhandled `RecursionError`. The full call path is:\n\n`JustHTML(html)` → `tokenizer.run()` → `tree_builder.finish()` → `_populate_selectedcontent(document)` → `_find_elements(root, \"select\", selects)` (recursive)\n\nDeeply nested DOM trees can be produced by nesting `\u003cdiv\u003e` tags ~1000 levels deep. On CPython with the default recursion limit, approximately 11 KB of `\u003cdiv\u003e` nesting is sufficient to trigger the error. The exact depth threshold is environment-dependent (CPython version, recursion limit setting, call stack depth at invocation).\n\nAdditional recursive functions are affected on already-parsed deep trees:\n- `Node.clone_node(deep=True)` ([`node.py#L523`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L523)) — called during sanitization\n- `_node_to_html()` ([`serialize.py#L580`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L580)) — used by `to_html(pretty=True)`\n- `_to_markdown_walk()` ([`node.py#L817`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L817)) — used by `to_markdown()`\n\nNote: the library already uses iterative traversal in several comparable functions (e.g., `_node_to_html_compact` at [`serialize.py#L197`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L197), `_to_text_collect` at [`node.py#L161`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/node.py#L161), `_is_blocky_element` at [`serialize.py#L405`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/serialize.py#L405), `apply_to_children` at [`transforms.py#L1642`](https://github.com/EmilStenstrom/justhtml/blob/a866b6077770d9ec4cb6b6f9bfe7c918f98455e4/src/justhtml/transforms.py#L1642)), demonstrating the correct pattern.\n\n### PoC\n\n```python\nfrom justhtml import JustHTML\n\nhtml = \"\u003cdiv\u003e\" * 1000 + \"x\" + \"\u003c/div\u003e\" * 1000\ndoc = JustHTML(html)  # raises RecursionError\n```\n\nTest environment: CPython 3.14.3, macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon), justhtml 1.9.1, default recursion limit (1000)\n\n| Input | Size | Result |\n|-------|------|--------|\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 500 | 5,501 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 800 | 8,801 bytes | OK |\n| `\u003cdiv\u003e` × 1000 | 11,001 bytes | RecursionError |\n\nThe error occurs with both `sanitize=True` (default) and `sanitize=False`.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn attacker who can supply HTML for parsing can trigger an unhandled `RecursionError` during `JustHTML()` construction. The error is triggered during construction and is not avoided by `justhtml` configuration alone; mitigating it requires host-application exception handling or input constraints. Depending on the host application's exception handling, this can abort parsing, fail requests, or terminate a worker/process.\n\n### Suggested Fix\n\nConvert the recursive tree traversal functions to iterative implementations using an explicit stack. Example for `_find_elements`:\n\n```python\ndef _find_elements(self, node: Any, name: str, result: list[Any]) -\u003e None:\n    stack = [node]\n    while stack:\n        current = stack.pop()\n        if current.name == name:\n            result.append(current)\n        if current.has_child_nodes():\n            stack.extend(reversed(current.children))\n```\n\nThe same conversion should be applied to `_find_element`, `clone_node(deep=True)`, `_node_to_html()`, and `_to_markdown_walk()`.","status":"published","published":"2026-09-10T09:44:49.39467Z","modified":"2026-09-10T12:15:07.010761627Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":7.1,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:52:57.255153Z"}]}}