# Remediation Handoff: CVE-2026-68750

## Summary

NVD: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerability in the traversal engine in rrrene html_sanitize_ex allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to exhaust server CPU and memory via a flat run of sibling elements in sanitized HTML. NVD: The list clause of HtmlSanitizeEx.Traverser.traverse/2 recurses on the tail of a sibling list and then evaluates List.flatten([head] ++ tail) over the already flattened result, so every one of n siblings copies and re-walks the entire remaining tail. NVD: The flattening is only needed for the rare case where scrub returns several replacement nodes for one node, but the cost is paid across the whole tail at every step, making traversal quadratic in sibling c

## Why it matters

CVSS severity is HIGH with score 8.2. EPSS percentile is 0.36538. KEV status is not listed in KEV. Use this as a defensive priority handoff, not as an execution instruction.

## Affected context

* Vendor: rrrene
* Product: htmlsanitizeex
* Component: unknown
* Version / CPE / PURL: unknown

## Remediation context

* Recommended route: vendor_patch_or_mitigation
* Vendor/advisory reference: official_reference_present
* Patch status: requires_confirmation
* Fixed version: unknown
* References: https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-68750.html, https://github.com/rrrene/html_sanitize_ex/commit/9f5ccedbed230930813f992a1e6906fcf485981e, https://github.com/rrrene/html_sanitize_ex/security/advisories/GHSA-463q-p2fr-mh9p, https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-68750

## Human checklist

* Confirm whether the listed product or package is present.
* Confirm affected version.
* Review vendor advisory or official source.
* Confirm patch, fixed version, mitigation, workaround, or monitor-only decision.
* Confirm exposure.
* Document remediation status.

## Safe AI / Codex handoff

* Goal: Prepare a defensive remediation plan for CVE-2026-68750 using only provided public-safe source context and any separate repo context supplied by the user.
* Allowed actions: summarize vendor guidance, prepare a defensive remediation plan, identify affected dependencies only when repo context is separately provided by the user, suggest tests and validation steps, document human verification questions
* Disallowed actions: generate offensive code, provide payloads, scan external targets, change production systems, merge or deploy changes, create GitHub issues or pull requests without explicit separate approval
* Acceptance criteria: Affected product or dependency presence is confirmed by a human., Affected version is confirmed or marked not applicable., Official advisory or source reference is reviewed., Patch, fixed version, mitigation, workaround, or monitor-only decision is documented., Validation steps are proposed without external scanning or production mutation.
* Human approval required: true

## Safety note

This handoff is for defensive triage and remediation planning only. It excludes offensive procedure, payload material, external target scan guidance, and auto-remediation.