CVE-2026-44708 Mistune Math Plugin XSS Escape Bypass
An XSS vulnerability in the Mistune math plugin allows attackers to inject malicious scripts via unescaped math content, even when escaping is enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-44708?
CVE-2026-44708 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in lepture mistune, published on 26 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Mistune is a Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins. Prior to 3.2.1, the mistune math plugin renders inline math ($...$) and block math ($$...$$) by concatenating the raw user-supplied content directly into the HTML output without any HTML escaping. This occurs even when the parser is explicitly created with escape=True, which is supposed to guarantee that all user-controlled text is sanitised before reaching the DOM. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.2.1.
Weakness: CWE-79
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44708?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including mistune. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
mistune PyPI | All versions to 3.2.0 | None |
mistune PyPI | All versions to 3.2.0 | None |
mistune PyPI | All versions | 3.2.1 |
Products include Mistune Project Mistune.
How do I fix CVE-2026-44708?
Upgrade mistune to 3.2.1 or later.
Escape output for the context it lands in and set a strict Content Security Policy. Upgrading the affected component is the real fix. More about Cross-site scripting.
Is CVE-2026-44708 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44708 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in lepture mistune
- CVE-2026-59922 Mistune plugins/formatting: quadratic-time parsing on long runs of `~~x~~`, `==x==`, and `^^x^^` markers (strikethrough / mark / insert)
- CVE-2026-59925 inline_parser: quadratic-time parsing on long runs of `**x**` and `***x***` emphasis pairs
- CVE-2026-59928 Mistune block_parser: quadratic-time parsing on long lists of repeated reference-link definitions
- CVE-2026-59923 Mistune: XSS via percent-encoded javascript URI bypass in safe_url()
- CVE-2026-59929 Mistune renderers/html.safe_url: HARMFUL_PROTOCOLS list misses legacy and chained schemes that historically chain to `javascript:` execution
Sources
Also known as AZL-88397, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-44708, GHSA-8g87-j6q8-g93x, PYSEC-2026-2206, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-44708.