The vulnerability CVE-2024-44337 exists in the Go package github.com/gomarkdown/markdown, a widely used library for parsing Markdown text and converting it to HTML. The flaw resides in the paragraph function within the parser/block.go file, where a logical error leads to an infinite loop when processing specially crafted Markdown input. This infinite loop causes the application to hang indefinitely, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition by exhausting CPU resources and potentially memory. The issue was identified and fixed in the commit a2a9c4f76ef5a5c32108e36f7c47f8d310322252, corresponding to the pseudoversion v0.0.0-20240729232818-a2a9c4f. The vulnerability does not require authentication or user interaction, but an attacker must be able to supply malicious Markdown input to the vulnerable parser. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.1 (medium severity), reflecting the local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, and impact limited to integrity and availability. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time. This vulnerability can affect any Go application that uses this markdown library to parse untrusted or user-supplied Markdown content, potentially causing service outages or degraded performance.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-44337 is denial of service through resource exhaustion caused by an infinite loop in Markdown parsing. Organizations that incorporate the vulnerable gomarkdown/markdown library in their Go applications, especially those processing untrusted Markdown input (e.g., content management systems, documentation platforms, chat applications, or any user-generated content systems), risk application hangs and service disruptions. This can degrade user experience, cause downtime, and potentially affect dependent services. While the vulnerability does not lead to data disclosure or privilege escalation, the availability impact can be significant in high-traffic environments or automated processing pipelines. The attack requires the ability to submit malicious Markdown content, so exposure depends on the application's input validation and access controls. No known exploits in the wild reduce immediate risk, but the medium severity score and ease of triggering the infinite loop warrant prompt remediation to prevent potential abuse.

To mitigate CVE-2024-44337, organizations should update the gomarkdown/markdown library to at least pseudoversion v0.0.0-20240729232818-a2a9c4f or later, which includes the fix in commit a2a9c4f76ef5a5c32108e36f7c47f8d310322252. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, review and patch the paragraph function in parser/block.go to prevent infinite loops when processing Markdown input. Additionally, implement input validation and sanitization to restrict or filter untrusted Markdown content before parsing. Employ rate limiting and resource usage monitoring on services that parse Markdown to detect and mitigate potential abuse. Consider sandboxing or isolating Markdown parsing components to limit the impact of hangs or crashes. Finally, maintain an inventory of applications using this library to ensure all affected systems are identified and remediated promptly.