High severity · published Sep 1, 2026
CVE-2026-83616
xmldom: Processing Instruction Target Injection Bypasses requireWellFormed
8.7
CVSS
0.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
xmldom is a pure JavaScript W3C standard-based (XML DOM Level 2 Core) DOMParser and XMLSerializer module. Prior to @xmldom/xmldom versions 0.8.15 and 0.9.12, and in xmldom version 0.6.0 and earlier, Document.createProcessingInstruction(target, data) in lib/dom.js accepts an unvalidated target, while the requireWellFormed: true serializer checks only for a colon and the reserved case-insensitive xml name on 0.9.x and performs no target check on 0.8.x. Because serialization emits <?target data?>, a target containing >, ?, whitespace, or another invalid XML-name character can break the processing-instruction boundary and inject XML structure. This issue is fixed in @xmldom/xmldom versions 0.8.15 and 0.9.12; no fixed version is available for xmldom.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.6% · higher than 49% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
XM
xmldom · xmldom
<= 0.6.0 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-83616
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-83616
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/commit/1cde3e31a07c41c87cfd368d6946aa477f16b4f9
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/commit/3b694872bcb5c7e3cbadba961a4be2488750ce5b
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/pull/1071
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/pull/1072
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/releases/tag/0.8.15
github.com
https://github.com/xmldom/xmldom/releases/tag/0.9.12
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