Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-86430 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-86430 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-86430?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 7 September 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- league/commonmark (Packagist) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0.6.0,fixed=2.9.1.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-86430?
- Yes. league/commonmark (Packagist): upgrade to 2.9.1 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
- How is CVE-2026-86430 attacked?
- It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-86430?
- Check whether you run league/commonmark (Packagist) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
How to fix
- league/commonmark (Packagist): upgrade to 2.9.1 or later
composer require league/commonmark:^2.9.1
Technical details
league/commonmark versions 0.6.0 through 2.9.0 contain three independent algorithmic complexity vulnerabilities triggered during Markdown parsing: (1) quadratic behavior in fenced code block detection via non-atomic regex backreferences on long backtick runs; (2) quadratic behavior in reference link label normalization via repeated string operations on nested brackets; and (3) super-linear (approximately O(n^1.5)) behavior in emphasis delimiter processing due to unbounded cache key space. All three paths are reachable on a default CommonMarkConverter with no configuration changes or extensions needed. An unauthenticated attacker can craft a single-line input (e.g., 320 KB of backticks, deeply nested brackets, or delimiter sequences) to trigger sustained CPU consumption taking 20+ seconds. Repeated or concurrent requests exhaust available PHP workers. The vulnerability is patched in version 2.9.1 with possessive quantifiers and improved cache keying.
Affected products
- The League commonmark 0.6.0 to 2.9.0
Identifiers
- CVE-2026-86430
- GHSA-j8pm-gj4c-rq4x
Timeline
- 2026-08-09: disclosed
- 2026-08-09: patched: Version 2.9.1 released