GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 — mkdocs-include-markdown-p…
MEDIUMFix: mondeja/mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin#277GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin. A fix is available for mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin — see the affected versions and patch details below.
mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin susceptible to unvalidated input colliding with substitution placeholders
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
mkdocs-include-markdown-pluginReal-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
mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin is an Mkdocs Markdown includer plugin. In versions 7.1.7 and below, there is a vulnerability where unvalidated input can collide with substitution placeholders. This issue is fixed in version 7.1.8.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin | all versions | 7.1.8pip install --upgrade 'mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin==7.1.8' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin to 7.1.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-v39m-5m9j-m9w9 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.