CVE-2025-68142

Workarounds

Some possible workarounds

If users are concerned about this vulnerability and process unknown user content without timeouts or other safeguards in place to prevent really large, malicious content being aimed at systems, the use of pymdownx.blocks.caption could be avoided until the library is updated to 10.16.1+.

References

The original issue https://github.com/facelessuser/pymdown-extensions/issues/2716.

Description

The original issue came through PyMdown Extensions' normal issue tracker instead of the typical security flow: https://github.com/facelessuser/pymdown-extensions/issues/2716. Because this came through the normal issue flow, it was handled as a normal issue. In the future, PyMdown Extensions will ensure such issues, even if prematurely made public through the normal issue flow, are redirected through the typical security process.

The regular expression pattern in question is as follows:

RE_FIG_NUM = re.compile(r'^(\^)?([1-9][0-9]*(?:.[1-9][0-9]*)*)(?= |$)')

The POC was provided by @ShangzhiXu

import re
import time

regex_pattern = re.compile(r'^(\^)?([1-9][0-9]*(?:.[1-9][0-9]*)*)(?= |$)')

for i in range(50, 500, 50):
    long_string = '1' * i + 'a'
    start_time = time.time()
    match = re.match(regex_pattern, long_string)
    end_time = time.time()
    print(f"long_string execution time: {end_time - start_time:.6f} s")

The issue with the above pattern is that . was used, which accepts any character when we meant to use \.. The fix was to update the pattern to:

RE_FIG_NUM = re.compile(r'^(\^)?([1-9][0-9]*(?:\.[1-9][0-9]*)*)(?= |$)')

Relevant PR with fix: https://github.com/facelessuser/pymdown-extensions/pull/2717

Version(s) & System Info

• Operating System: Any
• Python Version: Any

This issue describes a ReDOS bug found within the figure caption extension (pymdownx.blocks.caption ).

In systems that take unchecked user content, this could cause long hangs when processing the data if a malicious payload was crafted.

A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use. Typical impact: denial of service when input is crafted to trigger backtracking.

Kodem intelligence

This issue is patched in Release 10.16.1.

1. What is CVE-2025-68142? CVE-2025-68142 is a low-severity inefficient regular expression (ReDoS) vulnerability in pymdown-extensions (pip), affecting versions < 10.16.1. It is fixed in 10.16.1. A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use.
2. Which versions of pymdown-extensions are affected by CVE-2025-68142? pymdown-extensions (pip) versions < 10.16.1 is affected.
3. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-68142? Yes. CVE-2025-68142 is fixed in 10.16.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
4. Is CVE-2025-68142 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-68142 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
5. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-68142 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
6. How do I fix CVE-2025-68142? Upgrade pymdown-extensions to 10.16.1 or later.

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