CVE-2026-53428: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value vulnerability in leandrocp mdex allows an unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service through unbounded memory allocation. co
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value vulnerability in leandrocp mdex allows an unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service through unbounded memory allocation.
comrak_nif::lumis_adapter::LumisAdapter::parse_highlight_lines in native/comrak_nif/src/lumis_adapter.rs eagerly expands a user-controlled inclusive line range from a fenced code block's highlight_lines decorator into a Vec<usize>, pushing one element per integer in the range with no upper bound on the range size. An attacker who can supply Markdown that an application renders with MDEx.to_html/2 (for example a comment, chat message, or wiki page) can embed a code block whose info string is rust highlight_lines="1-100000000", forcing the native adapter to allocate roughly 8 bytes per line in the range.
A payload that differs by only a few bytes can therefore allocate hundreds of megabytes, and a sufficiently large range (for example 1-2000000000) exhausts host memory and aborts the BEAM, denying service to every user of the rendering process. The per-line write loop additionally tests membership with a linear scan over the same vector, degrading rendering to a quadratic cost even for ranges that do not immediately exhaust memory.
The vulnerable native code originally shipped inside mdex (in native/comrak_nif/src/lumis_adapter.rs) and was later extracted into the separate mdex_native package (native/mdex_native_nif/src/lumis_adapter.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.
Details
Original advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53428
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-534280.14% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 4% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-53428 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
Recent advisories for Memory Allocation with
A cluster of recent advisories against the same product widens the attack surface — attackers routinely chain freshly published CVEs on one product, so review these together.
- lowCVE-2026-61870: ImageMagick before 7.1.2-26 contains a memory leak vulnerability in the VIFF encoder when memo…nvd · 2026-07-11
- lowCVE-2026-61861: ImageMagick before 7.1.2-26 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the FormatMagickCaption…nvd · 2026-07-11
- lowCVE-2026-61465: ImageMagick before 7.1.2-26 and 6.9.13-51 is missing a check for the allowed memory allocation…nvd · 2026-07-11
- lowCVE-2026-56373: ImageMagick before 7.1.2-15 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the PDB decoder that us…nvd · 2026-07-10
- highCVE-2026-40006: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value, Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttl…nvd · 2026-07-10
- unknownCVE-2026-42953: The application contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that can be exploited by an atta…nvd · 2026-07-07
More from NVD Recent CVEs
- mediumCVE-2026-15485: A flaw has been found in TRENDnet TEW-821DAP 1.11B03. The impacted element is the function sub…2026-07-12
- highCVE-2026-15484: A vulnerability was detected in TRENDnet TEW-821DAP 1.12B01. The affected element is the funct…2026-07-12
- highCVE-2026-15483: A security vulnerability has been detected in TRENDnet TEW-821DAP 1.12B01. Impacted is the fun…2026-07-12
- highCVE-2026-15482: A weakness has been identified in Aster Telecom Azcall 10/11. This issue affects some unknown …2026-07-12
- highCVE-2026-15481: A security flaw has been discovered in Trendnet TEW-635BRM up to 1.00.03. This vulnerability a…2026-07-12