Description
Mistune is a Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins. Versions 3.3.0 through 3.3.2 are vulnerable to DoS through deeply nested tokens. HTML rendering creates deeply nested emphasis tokens from consecutive asterisk characters, and recursive rendering in HTMLRenderer.render_token() can exceed Python's recursion limit and raise RecursionError, allowing crafted Markdown to crash a parsing process. This issue is fixed in version 3.3.3
Published: 2026-08-24
Score: 7.5 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Denial of Service via RecursionError
Action: Immediate Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

Mistune, a Python Markdown parser, has a flaw that allows an attacker to trigger a RecursionError by supplying Markdown with an excessively long sequence of consecutive asterisk characters. The parser creates deeply nested emphasis tokens from these characters, and the recursive rendering in HTMLRenderer.render_token() can exceed Python's recursion limit, causing the process to crash. This failure results in a denial of service that can affect any application that relies on Mistune to render Markdown content.

Affected Systems

The affected product is the Mistune parser by the lepture organization. Versions 3.3.0 through 3.3.2 contain the vulnerability; these revisions are used in various Python projects that perform Markdown to HTML conversion.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 7.5 indicates a high availability impact. The EPSS score is below 1%, suggesting low probability of exploitation, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Based on the description, it is inferred that an attacker could trigger the flaw by submitting crafted Markdown to any application that processes untrusted content with Mistune. The exploit would cause the parsing process to crash immediately, leading to service disruption.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 28, 2026 at 20:43 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Upgrade Mistune to 3.3.3 or later
  • If an upgrade is not feasible, limit or sanitize consecutive asterisk sequences before passing Markdown to Mistune
  • Monitor application logs for RecursionError exceptions and take corrective action if crashes occur

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 28, 2026 at 20:43 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-6m44-fpc8-c3rq Mistune: Denial of Service — RecursionError via Excessive Emphasis Markers in Markdown
History

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-770
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Important


Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Lepture
Lepture mistune
Vendors & Products Lepture
Lepture mistune

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Mistune is a Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins. Versions 3.3.0 through 3.3.2 are vulnerable to DoS through deeply nested tokens. HTML rendering creates deeply nested emphasis tokens from consecutive asterisk characters, and recursive rendering in HTMLRenderer.render_token() can exceed Python's recursion limit and raise RecursionError, allowing crafted Markdown to crash a parsing process. This issue is fixed in version 3.3.3
Title Mistune has Denial of Service — RecursionError via Excessive Emphasis Markers in Markdown
Weaknesses CWE-674
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-24T20:17:07.057Z

Reserved: 2026-08-18T21:17:32.201Z

Link: CVE-2026-76098

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-08-24T20:16:55.925Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Deferred

Published: 2026-08-24T20:17:19.330

Modified: 2026-09-09T21:06:39.057

Link: CVE-2026-76098

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-08-24T20:05:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-76098 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-28T20:45:04Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-674

    Uncontrolled Recursion

  • CWE-770

    Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling