CVE-2026-111766: markdown-it Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-111766 is a low (CVSS 3.7) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in markdown-it. EPSS estimates a 0.35% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 27.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 19-10-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.

Description

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.

• CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionThe product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
• CWE-407Inefficient Algorithmic ComplexityAn algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.