NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2023-32309: Arbitrary file inclusion with the pymdowm-snippets extension

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)

Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.6% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 76.7% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
Fixed version: facelessuser pymdown-extensions 10.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to facelessuser pymdown-extensions 10.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

PyMdown Extensions is a set of extensions for the `Python-Markdown` markdown project. In affected versions an arbitrary file read is possible when using include file syntax. By using the syntax `--8<--"/etc/passwd"` or `--8<--"/proc/self/environ"` the content of these files will be rendered in the generated documentation. Additionally, a path relative to a specified, allowed base path can also be used to render the content of a file outside the specified base paths: `--8<-- "../../../../etc/passwd"`. Within the Snippets extension, there exists a `base_path` option but the implementation is vulnerable to Directory Traversal. The vulnerable section exists in `get_snippet_path(self, path)` lines 155 to 174 in snippets.py. Any readable file on the host where the plugin is executing may have its content exposed. This can impact any use of Snippets that exposes the use of Snippets to external users. It is never recommended to use Snippets to process user-facing, dynamic content. It is designed to process known content on the backend under the control of the host, but if someone were to accidentally enable it for user-facing content, undesired information could be exposed. This issue has been addressed in version 10.0. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may restrict relative paths by filtering input.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—Proof of concept Fix available

Published: May 15, 2023
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
EPSS: 1.6% · 76th percentile
CWE: CWE-22

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 1.6%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: proof of concept
Automatable: yes
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 7.5
CNA · GitHub_M: 7.5; agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
A fix has been released

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
facelessuser	pymdown extensions	cpe:2.3:a:facelessuser:pymdown_extensions

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

facelessuser pymdown extensions1.5.0 and later · before 10.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

facelessuser pymdown-extensions
- >= 1.5, < 10.0affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Debian:12	pymdown-extensions	from 0	—
Debian:13	pymdown-extensions	before 10.8.1-1	10.8.1-1
PyPI	pymdown-extensions	from 1.5 · before 10.0	10.0

Same product

facelessuser: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2026-46338PyMdown Extensions: Regression in pymdownx.snippets reintroduces sibling-prefix path traversal bypass despite restrict_base_path
17Monitor
CVE-2025-68142PyMdown Extensions has ReDOS bug in Figure Capture extension
10Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
facelessuser pymdown-extensions	10.0 · description	Vendor (CNA)
debian:pymdown-extensions	10.8.1-1 · Debian:13	Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:pymdown-extensions	10.0	Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
Source	Kind	Date
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub	stars:0	2023-05-16

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

PublishedMay 15, 2023
First PoCMay 16, 2023same day
TodayNov 7, 2026+1272 d

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

facelessuser/pymdown-extensionscommit b7bb487

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
No account or password is required.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: none
Availability: none

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: None
Availability impact: None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);
2res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

1const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);
2if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {
3  return res.sendStatus(400);
4}
5res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

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References

github.com/facelessuser/pymdown-extensions/commit/b7bb4878d6017c03c8dc97c42d8d3bb6ee81db9d

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records