CVE-2023-32309

Arbitrary file inclusion with the pymdowm-snippets extension

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: May 15, 2023 at 08:42 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:58 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorPymdown Extensions

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 2%
SSVC
PoC

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 10.01.5.0 ≤ v < 10.0
Affected range stops below 10.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-22

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