How severe is CVE-2023-32309?

CVE-2023-32309 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-32309?

CVE-2023-32309 affects the following packages: pymdown-extensions (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2023-32309?

Update pymdown-extensions to 10.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-32309 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-32309 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pymdown-extensions. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-32309 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-32309?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-32309 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-32309 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2023-32309, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-32309?

CVE-2023-32309 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.6%, placing it in the 72th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2023-32309 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-32309 was published on May 15, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍 PyPI

CVE-2023-32309

HIGH

Arbitrary file inclusion with the pymdowm-snippets extension

Also known asGHSA-jh85-wwv9-24hv

Published

May 15, 2023

Updated

Apr 10, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk72th percentile-2.23%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

🐍pymdown-extensions

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

PyMdown Extensions is a set of extensions for the Python-Markdown markdown project. In affected versions an arbitrary file read is possible when using include file syntax. By using the syntax --8<--"/etc/passwd" or --8<--"/proc/self/environ" the content of these files will be rendered in the generated documentation. Additionally, a path relative to a specified, allowed base path can also be used to render the content of a file outside the specified base paths: --8<-- "../../../../etc/passwd". Within the Snippets extension, there exists a base_path option but the implementation is vulnerable to Directory Traversal. The vulnerable section exists in get_snippet_path(self, path) lines 155 to 174 in snippets.py. Any readable file on the host where the plugin is executing may have its content exposed. This can impact any use of Snippets that exposes the use of Snippets to external users. It is never recommended to use Snippets to process user-facing, dynamic content. It is designed to process known content on the backend under the control of the host, but if someone were to accidentally enable it for user-facing content, undesired information could be exposed. This issue has been addressed in version 10.0. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may restrict relative paths by filtering input.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`pymdown-extensions`	≥ 1.5&&< 10.0	10.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

PyMdown Extensions is a set of extensions for the `Python-Markdown` mark…

github.comNVDMay 2023

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pymdown-extensions. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update pymdown-extensions to 10.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-32309 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-32309 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2023-32309. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

PyMdown Extensions is a set of extensions for the `Python-Markdown` markdown project. In affected versions an arbitrary file read is possible when using include file syntax. By using the syntax `--8<--"/etc/passwd"` or `--8<--"/proc/self/environ"` the content of these files will be rendered in the generated documentation. Additionally, a path relative to a specified, allowed base path can also be used to render the content of a file outside the specified base paths: `--8<-- "../../../../etc/passwd"`. Within the Snippets extension, there exists a `base_path` option but the implementation is vul

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-32309 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-32309 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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