CVE-2026-28338: PMD Designer has Stored XSS in VBHTMLRenderer and YAHTMLRenderer via unescaped violation messages

Description

PMD is an extensible multilanguage static code analyzer. Prior to version 7.22.0, PMD's `vbhtml` and `yahtml` report formats insert rule violation messages into HTML output without escaping. When PMD analyzes untrusted source code containing crafted string literals, the generated HTML report contains executable JavaScript that runs when opened in a browser. Practical impact is limited because `vbhtml` and `yahtml` are legacy formats rarely used in practice. The default `html` format is properly escaped and not affected. Version 7.22.0 contains a fix for the issue.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges

None

User interaction

Required

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Scope

Changed

Exploitation

Is it being used?

Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 28% of CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet

CISA KEVNot listed

Ransomware campaign useNot known

Affected products

Which versions

PM

pmd · pmd

< 7.22.0 · source: vendor, NVD