CVE Intelligence
Low Denial of service

CVE-2026-111766 — markdown-it: Quadratic-time denial of service in inline HTML parsing with html enabled

markdown-it is a Markdown parser. Prior to 14.3.3 and 15.0.3, when the html option or commonmark preset is enabled and the constructs occur inside a paragraph, attacker-controlled Markdown containing repeated unterminated inline HTML comments, processing instructions, declarations, or CDATA sections reaches src/rules_inline/html_inline.ts. Its HTML_TAG_RE match searches the remaining suffix for the appropriate terminator; when no terminator is present, parsing advances to the next opener and repeats the match over overlapping input, causing quadratic processing and denial of service through event-loop blocking or an unresponsive browser main thread. HTML blocks and the default HTML-disabled configuration are not affected by these payloads. This issue is fixed in versions 14.3.3 and 15.0.3.

Published Oct 19, 2026 · Updated Oct 19, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • No scoring signals.

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Markdown-it
Markdown-it
CVSS base
3.7
Low · 2 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Markdown-it Markdown-it).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (denial of service), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Markdown-it Markdown-it version >= 15.0.0, < 15.0.3version < 14.3.3 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
3.7 CVSS 3.1 Low 2.2 1.4 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
3.7 CVSS 3.1 Low — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Track CPU/memory spikes and availability drops correlated with request patterns.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSresource metrics

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Source status changed · Received → Awaiting Analysis
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · markdown-it/markdown-it
    Oct 19, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 19, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 3.7
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Received
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Oct 19, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026

References

5 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Markdown-it
every CVE for this vendor
Denial of service
same class
CWE-400
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-111759 markdown-it: Quadratic complexity in smartquotes with unmatched closing quotes 11h
  • CVE-2026-48988 markdown-it: Quadratic complexity DoS in smartquotes rule via replaceAt string operations Jun 17, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No FIRST EPSS score.
  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-111766 is "markdown-it: Quadratic-time denial of service in inline HTML parsing with html enabled", rated Low. It affects Markdown-it (Markdown-it); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 3.7 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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