CVE-2026-66921: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vx7v-g6x3-qh2m
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CWE-79
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-66921 is a MODERATE security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-66921 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-66921
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vx7v-g6x3-qh2m
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2026-66921

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-66921, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Pivotick’s Markdown node-reference renderer failed to HTML-escape the attacker-controlled nodeName value before interpolating it into both the data-node-name attribute and the body of a generated <span> element. Because the node-reference tokenizer rejected only square brackets, a crafted node name could still contain quotation marks, angle brackets, or other HTML metacharacters. An attacker could therefore terminate the quoted attribute or inject additional HTML elements and event-handler attributes. When malicious node-reference content is rendered by a consumer that does not apply DOMPurify or equivalent sanitization, arbitrary JavaScript may execute in the victim’s browser in the security context of the application. Successful exploitation requires a victim to open or render a crafted graph or note and could allow the attacker to access same-origin information, modify displayed content, or perform actions using the victim’s session. The patch resolves the issue by applying context-appropriate HTML escaping to node names before inserting them into either HTML text or quoted attribute values. The shared escaping function now encodes ampersands, angle brackets, and both types of quotation marks.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-66921 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-66921
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/Pivotick/Pivotick/commit/4c13ff2b0ec769881b5526feddef37c0c5a08885

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-66921?
CVE-2026-66921 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-66921?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-66921?
CVE-2026-66921 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-66921?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vx7v-g6x3-qh2m",
  "modified" : "2026-07-28T15:32:17Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-28T15:32:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-66921" ],
  "details" : "Pivotick’s Markdown node-reference renderer failed to HTML-escape the attacker-controlled nodeName value before interpolating it into both the data-node-name attribute and the body of a generated <span> element.\n\nBecause the node-reference tokenizer rejected only square brackets, a crafted node name could still contain quotation marks, angle brackets, or other HTML metacharacters. An attacker could therefore terminate the quoted attribute or inject additional HTML elements and event-handler attributes.\n\nWhen malicious node-reference content is rendered by a consumer that does not apply DOMPurify or equivalent sanitization, arbitrary JavaScript may execute in the victim’s browser in the security context of the application. Successful exploitation requires a victim to open or render a crafted graph or note and could allow the attacker to access same-origin information, modify displayed content, or perform actions using the victim’s session.\n\nThe patch resolves the issue by applying context-appropriate HTML escaping to node names before inserting them into either HTML text or quoted attribute values. The shared escaping function now encodes ampersands, angle brackets, and both types of quotation marks.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-66921"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Pivotick/Pivotick/commit/4c13ff2b0ec769881b5526feddef37c0c5a08885"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-28T14:16:40Z"
  }
}