Mistune from 3.0.0 before 3.3.0 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in the inline link parser's parse_link_text function that allows unauthenticated attackers to exhaust CPU with unbalanced brackets. Attackers can submit Markdown containing many unbalanced '[' or '![' characters, forcing repeated unbounded forward scans and tying up worker processes for minutes.
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mistune-before-3.3.0-quadratic-time-dos-via-parse-link-text
https://github.com/lepture/mistune/security/advisories/GHSA-x2gr-6qf2-fc9x
Published: 2026-10-22
Updated: 2026-10-22
Base Score: 7.8
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Severity: High
Base Score: 7.5
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Severity: High
Base Score: 8.7
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
Severity: High