Mistune 3.0.0 before 3.3.0 Denial of Service via Nested Bracket ParsingGHSA-3q64-rw38-243v
GHSA-3q64-rw38-243v is a CWE-1333 vulnerability. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Description
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.
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Fix
Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for GHSA-3q64-rw38-243v, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat Product Security rates this vulnerability as having an Important severity because remote attackers can induce significant CPU resource exhaustion and service unavailability with minimal request overhead. Within Red Hat OpenShift AI container images and runtime workbenches, mistune processes user-supplied text…
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-3q64-rw38-243v (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-3q64-rw38-243v in your dependencies?
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