CVE-2026-28338Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Stored XSS via unescaped report messages

Published Feb 27, 2026 · Updated Feb 27, 2026

Stored XSS in PMD before 7.22.0 allows remote attackers to execute JavaScript through HTML reports generated from crafted source code. VBHTMLRenderer and YAHTMLRenderer append rule-violation descriptions to report markup without HTML escaping; the default HTML renderer also leaves suppression messages unescaped. Exploitation requires analysis of untrusted code with an affected report path and a user opening the resulting artifact, where script runs in the report's browser context.

CVSS severity6.8
Medium
EPSS probability0.30%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Stored XSS in PMD before 7.22.0 allows remote attackers to execute JavaScript through HTML reports generated from crafted source code. VBHTMLRenderer and YAHTMLRenderer append rule-violation descriptions to report markup without HTML escaping; the default HTML renderer also leaves suppression messages unescaped. Exploitation requires analysis of untrusted code with an affected report path and a user opening the resulting artifact, where script runs in the report's browser context.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-28338
Published
Feb 27, 2026
Updated
Feb 27, 2026
Vendor
PMD
Product
PMD
Classifications
CWE-79, T1204.002
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 7.22.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

PMD · PMDversion=< 7.22.0

Published CVSS scores

6.8GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
6.1NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1204.002User Execution: Malicious File

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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