CVE-2023-26485
5.3 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2023-26485 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting github cmark-gfm. It was published on March 31, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
cmark-gfm is GitHub's fork of cmark, a CommonMark parsing and rendering library and program in C. A polynomial time complexity issue in cmark-gfm may lead to unbounded resource exhaustion and subsequent denial of service. This CVE covers quadratic complexity issues when parsing text which leads with either large numbers of `_` characters. This issue has been addressed in version 0.29.0.gfm.10. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should validate that their input comes from trusted sources.
### Impact
A polynomial time complexity issue in cmark-gfm may lead to unbounded resource exhaustion and subsequent denial of service.
### Proof of concept
```
$ ~/cmark-gfm$ python3 -c 'pad = "_" * 100000; print(pad + "." + pad, end="")' | time ./build/src/cmark-gfm --to plaintext
```
Increasing the number 10000 in the above commands causes the running time to increase quadratically.
### Patches
This vulnerability have been patched in 0.29.0.gfm.10.
### Note on cmark and
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from github. Update cmark-gfm to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| github | cmark-gfm | >= 0, < 0.29.0.gfm.10 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-26485?
CVE-2023-26485 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting github cmark-gfm. It was published on March 31, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2023-26485?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2023-26485?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from github. Update cmark-gfm to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2023-26485?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2023-26485 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
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