CVE-2024-28243 | KaTeX's maxExpand bypassed by \edef

KaTeX is a JavaScript library for TeX math rendering on the web. KaTeX users who render untrusted mathematical expressions could encounter malicious input using `\edef` that causes a near-infinite loop, despite setting `maxExpand` to avoid such loops. This can be used as an availability attack, where e.g. a client rendering another user's KaTeX input will be unable to use the site due to memory overflow, tying up the main thread, or stack overflow. Upgrade to KaTeX v0.16.10 to remove this vulnerability.

Published: 2024-03-25 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-28243 is rated Moderate Risk (51.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.41%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-28243

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.48% 1.41% +0.94%
2 2026-04-13 0.36% 0.48% +0.11%
3 2026-03-04 — 0.36% —

Full EPSS history (31 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-28243

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-28243

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-28243

GHSA-64fm-8hw2-v72w · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: npm — KaTeX's maxExpand bypassed by `\edef`

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-28243

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-28243 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (node-katex), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-28243
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-28243 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (node-katex), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream): not-affected 6, released 2, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-28243

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-28243

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
katex katex >= 0.1.0, < 0.16.10 cpe:2.3:a:katex:katex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-28243

cvelogic Threat Intelligence