markdown2 is vulnerable to cross-site scriptingGHSA-p6h9-gw49-rqm4
MEDIUMFix: trentm/python-markdown2#303GHSA-p6h9-gw49-rqm4 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in markdown2. A fix is available for markdown2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-p6h9-gw49-rqm4 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
markdown2Real-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
An issue was discovered in markdown2 (aka python-markdown2) through 2.3.5. The safe_mode feature, which is supposed to sanitize user input against XSS, is flawed and does not escape the input properly. With a crafted payload, XSS can be triggered, as demonstrated by omitting the final > character from an IMG tag.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | markdown2 | all versions | 2.3.6pip install --upgrade 'markdown2==2.3.6' |
Affected Products
python-markdown2python-markdown2_projectDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for markdown2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update markdown2 to 2.3.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-p6h9-gw49-rqm4 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-p6h9-gw49-rqm4 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.