TI-2026-22626 Aliases CVE-2026-28338 GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

PMD Designer has Stored XSS in VBHTMLRenderer and YAHTMLRenderer via unescaped violation messages

MEDIUM 63CWE-79Published 2026-02-27 · Updated 2026-03-03

Key facts

Attack vector: Network
Privileges required: None
User interaction: Required
Attack complexity: High
Impact type: Cross-site scripting
Confidentiality · integrity · availability: High · High · None
Fix status: Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-79.

Summary

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.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV

EPSS 0.00346 28th percentileScored 2026-11-07

Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD

Fix Fixed pmd (pmd): 7.22.0net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-core (Maven): 7.22.0

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation: Poc
Automatable: No
Technical impact: Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Affected versions	Fixed in	Status	Source
pmd	pmd	before 7.22.0	7.22.0	Patch available	CNA
—	net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-core (Maven)	before 7.22.0	7.22.0	Patch available	GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

pmd Vendorpmd Affected before 7.22.0 Fixed in 7.22.0 Patch available CNA
net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-core (Maven) Vendor— Affected before 7.22.0 Fixed in 7.22.0 Patch available GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPE	Versions	Role	Vendor
cpe:2.3:a:pmd_project:pmd::::::::	before 7.22.0	Vulnerable	Pmd Project

cpe:2.3:a:pmd_project:pmd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 7.22.0 Vulnerable ·Pmd Project

Remediation

Fix · CNA pmd (pmd) Fixed in 7.22.0
Fix · GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-core (Maven) Fixed in 7.22.0 Advisory →

Timeline

2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-28338
2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

References

Exploit 1

https://github.com/pmd/pmd/security/advisories/GHSA-8rr6-2qw5-pc7r

Patch 2

Advisory 1

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28338

Other 1

https://github.com/pmd/pmd

TI-2025-17000 PMD Designer's release key passphrase (GPG) available on Maven Central in cleartext CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences