CVE-2026-53429
Unbounded native memory leak in mdex escaped-tag rendering enables unauthenticated denial of service
Description
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in leandrocp mdex and mdex_native allows an attacker who controls a rendered document to cause a denial of service through unbounded native memory exhaustion. The native rendering code permanently leaks memory when rendering a document that contains escaped-tag nodes. The conversion of each %MDEx.EscapedTag{} node into its native representation (From<ExEscapedTag> for NodeValue in the Rust NIF) calls Box::leak on the caller-supplied literal string, which surrenders the backing allocation so that it lives for the entire lifetime of the operating system process and is never freed. Both the byte length of each literal and the number of escaped-tag nodes in a document are attacker-controlled, and there is no size cap, rate limit, or string interning on this path. Every render of a document containing escaped-tag nodes therefore leaks literal_size x node_count bytes that can never be reclaimed, and repeated renders accumulate without bound. Rendering reaches this path through the public MDEx.to_html/1 entry point and any other API that renders a supplied %MDEx.Document{}. Any application that uses mdex (or mdex_native directly) to render documents derived from user-supplied content is affected. Because the leaked memory is never reclaimed for the life of the BEAM process, an attacker can drive resident memory upward without limit until the node exhausts memory and crashes, taking down every process on it. The vulnerable native code originally shipped inside mdex (in native/comrak_nif/src/types/document.rs) and was later extracted into the separate mdex_native package (native/mdex_native_nif/src/types/document.rs), where it remains unpatched. This issue affects mdex from 0.11.0 before 0.12.3, and mdex_native from 0.1.0 before 0.2.3.
INFO
Published Date :
June 29, 2026, 8:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
June 30, 2026, 2:14 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db |
Solution
- Update mdex to version 0.12.3 or later.
- Update mdex_native to version 0.2.3 or later.
- Review and fix memory leak in native rendering code.
- Implement limits on document size and node count.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-53429.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-53429 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-53429
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-53429 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-53429 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Jun. 29, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex_native/security/advisories/GHSA-cmvp-gp9f-23xw Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-53429', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'poc'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-06-29T20:45:00.827777Z'} -
New CVE Received by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Jun. 29, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:leandrocp:mdex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex', 'vendor': 'leandrocp', 'modules': ["'Elixir.MDEx'", 'comrak_nif'], 'product': 'mdex', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0.11.0', 'lessThan': '0.12.3', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:hex/mdex', 'packageName': 'mdex', 'programFiles': ['native/comrak_nif/src/types/document.rs'], 'collectionURL': 'https://repo.hex.pm', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'comrak_nif::document_to_html_with_options'}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDEx.Native':document_to_html_with_options/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDEx':to_html/1"}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:leandrocp:mdex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex', 'vendor': 'leandrocp', 'modules': ["'Elixir.MDEx'", 'comrak_nif'], 'product': 'mdex', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '81e4d14dd3aa5b206e395c7f372b9b413793015f', 'lessThan': '6ed94d905f97af188323f042698ae841c02293b4', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:github/leandrocp/mdex', 'packageName': 'leandrocp/mdex', 'programFiles': ['native/comrak_nif/src/types/document.rs'], 'collectionURL': 'https://github.com', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'comrak_nif::document_to_html_with_options'}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDEx.Native':document_to_html_with_options/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDEx':to_html/1"}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:leandrocp:mdex_native:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex_native', 'vendor': 'leandrocp', 'modules': ["'Elixir.MDExNative.Comrak'", 'mdex_native_nif'], 'product': 'mdex_native', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0.1.0', 'lessThan': '0.2.3', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:hex/mdex_native', 'packageName': 'mdex_native', 'programFiles': ['native/mdex_native_nif/src/types/document.rs'], 'collectionURL': 'https://repo.hex.pm', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'mdex_native_nif::document_to_html_with_options'}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDExNative.Native':document_to_html_with_options/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDExNative.Comrak':document_to_html/2"}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:leandrocp:mdex_native:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex_native', 'vendor': 'leandrocp', 'modules': ["'Elixir.MDExNative.Comrak'", 'mdex_native_nif'], 'product': 'mdex_native', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '956528c5e31746253347029e810a969ab916fd27', 'lessThan': 'cbd927fb5061b488de8d90a8ef6df65718ca1fe6', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:github/leandrocp/mdex_native', 'packageName': 'leandrocp/mdex_native', 'programFiles': ['native/mdex_native_nif/src/types/document.rs'], 'collectionURL': 'https://github.com', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': 'mdex_native_nif::document_to_html_with_options'}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDExNative.Native':document_to_html_with_options/2"}, {'name': "'Elixir.MDExNative.Comrak':document_to_html/2"}]}] Added Description Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerability in leandrocp mdex and mdex_native allows an attacker who controls a rendered document to cause a denial of service through unbounded native memory exhaustion. The native rendering code permanently leaks memory when rendering a document that contains escaped-tag nodes. The conversion of each %MDEx.EscapedTag{} node into its native representation (From<ExEscapedTag> for NodeValue in the Rust NIF) calls Box::leak on the caller-supplied literal string, which surrenders the backing allocation so that it lives for the entire lifetime of the operating system process and is never freed. Both the byte length of each literal and the number of escaped-tag nodes in a document are attacker-controlled, and there is no size cap, rate limit, or string interning on this path. Every render of a document containing escaped-tag nodes therefore leaks literal_size x node_count bytes that can never be reclaimed, and repeated renders accumulate without bound. Rendering reaches this path through the public MDEx.to_html/1 entry point and any other API that renders a supplied %MDEx.Document{}. Any application that uses mdex (or mdex_native directly) to render documents derived from user-supplied content is affected. Because the leaked memory is never reclaimed for the life of the BEAM process, an attacker can drive resident memory upward without limit until the node exhausts memory and crashes, taking down every process on it. The vulnerable native code originally shipped inside mdex (in native/comrak_nif/src/types/document.rs) and was later extracted into the separate mdex_native package (native/mdex_native_nif/src/types/document.rs), where it remains unpatched. This issue affects mdex from 0.11.0 before 0.12.3, and mdex_native from 0.1.0 before 0.2.3. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CWE CWE-401 Added Reference https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-53429.html Added Reference https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex_native/commit/cbd927fb5061b488de8d90a8ef6df65718ca1fe6 Added Reference https://github.com/leandrocp/mdex_native/security/advisories/GHSA-cmvp-gp9f-23xw Added Reference https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-53429