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CVE Record

CVE-2026-33079: Mistune ReDoS in LINK_TITLE_RE allows denial of service with crafted Markdown titles

In versions 3.0.0a1 through 3.2.0 of Mistune, there is a ReDoS (Regular Expression Denial of Service) vulnerability in `LINK_TITLE_RE` that allows an attacker who can supply Markdown for parsing to cause denial of service. The regular expression used for parsing link titles contains overlapping alternatives that can trigger catastrophic backtracking. In both the double-quoted and single-quoted branches, a backslash followed by punctuation can be matched either as an escaped punctuation sequence or as two ordinary characters, creating an ambiguous pattern inside a repeated group. If an attacker supplies Markdown containing repeated ! sequences with no closing quote, the regex engine explores an exponential number of backtracking paths. This is reachable through normal Markdown parsing of inline links and block link reference definitions. A small crafted input can therefore cause significant CPU consumption and make applications using Mistune unresponsive.

HighCVSS 8.7Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Mistune can consume excessive CPU when parsing a specially crafted Markdown link title, potentially making an application unavailable. Risk is highest where public or untrusted users can submit Markdown that is processed by affected Mistune versions.

Executive priority

Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or multi-tenant services that parse user-controlled Markdown. Treat internal systems as lower urgency only after confirming inputs are trusted and resource limits contain CPU exhaustion. The vulnerability can disrupt availability without authentication.

Technical view

Mistune 3.0.0a1 through 3.2.0 contains an ambiguous repeated pattern in LINK_TITLE_RE. Malformed link titles can trigger exponential regular-expression backtracking during ordinary inline-link or reference-definition parsing, causing CPU exhaustion. The supplied CVSS 4.0 score is 8.7, with availability impact only.

Likely exposure

Exposure requires Mistune 3.0.0a1 through 3.2.0, directly or transitively, plus a path where attacker-controlled Markdown reaches normal parsing. Public editors, comments, documentation services, converters, and APIs may be relevant only if they meet both conditions.

Exploitation context

The supplied assessment describes remote, low-complexity, unauthenticated exploitation without user interaction. However, the bundle marks this CVE as absent from KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. Impact is denial of service, not disclosed data theft or modification.

Researcher notes

CWE-1333 applies: inefficient regular-expression complexity caused by overlapping alternatives inside repetition. Reachability includes ordinary inline links and block reference definitions. The source bundle establishes affected versions through 3.2.0 but does not explicitly identify the first fixed release or demonstrate exploitation in the wild.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory direct and transitive Mistune versions across applications and deployed environments.
  • Update to a vendor-confirmed non-affected Mistune release; the bundle does not identify a specific fixed version.
  • Apply applicable Red Hat errata where Mistune is supplied through affected Red Hat products.
  • Until updated, restrict untrusted Markdown processing and enforce request, CPU, and worker time limits.
  • Review the GitHub advisory and relevant vendor guidance before selecting compensating controls.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm deployed Mistune versions, including vendored, containerized, and transitive copies.
  • Trace whether untrusted Markdown reaches inline-link or reference-definition parsing.
  • Verify update status against the GitHub advisory or applicable Red Hat errata.
  • In a controlled environment, confirm malformed link-title parsing terminates within enforced resource limits.
  • Review CPU saturation, worker timeouts, and availability alerts around Markdown-processing endpoints.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
7

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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ATT&CK lookup starting points

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cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-1333: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-33079 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.7 (4.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
8Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: pocAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.7CVSS 4.0HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——GitHub_M
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 4.0 score

8.7High
CVSS 4.0 vector shape for CVE-2026-33079Attack VectorAttack ComplexityAttack RequirementsPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionVS ConfidentialityVS IntegrityVS AvailabilitySS ConfidentialitySS IntegritySS Availability

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Attack Requirements
NonePresent
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NonePassiveActive
VS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
VS Integrity
HighLowNone
VS Availability
HighLowNone
SS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
SS Integrity
HighLowNone
SS Availability
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
redhat-SADPmistune: Mistune: Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) via crafted Markdown input
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-05-06T18:01:13.818Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-05-06T17:25:09.026Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
lepturemistune>=3.0.0a1, <= 3.2.0Listed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-1333 · source CWE mapping

Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity

Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.