About Cross Site Scripting - Microsoft Exchange (CVE-2026-42897) vulnerability. The vulnerability was fixed on May 14 outside the regular Microsoft Patch Tuesday cycle. Improper neutralization of input during web page generation (CWE-79, XSS) in Microsoft Exchange Server allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network. In practical terms, this means that a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted email to a user. If the user opens the email in Outlook Web Access and certain interaction conditions are met, arbitrary JavaScript can be executed in the browser context. As a result, the attacker may gain control of the user's mailbox by using an active user session.

👾 Microsoft experts immediately reported signs of active exploitation in the wild for this vulnerability. The vulnerability was added to the CISA KEV on May 15.

⚒️ A public exploit for the vulnerability was published on GitHub on May 15 as well.

⚙️ Initially, mitigation measures were recommended to address the vulnerability, delivered via the Exchange Emergency Mitigation (EM) service or by using the Exchange on-premises Mitigation Tool (EOMT) script. Security updates that fix the vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange Server Subscription Edition RTM, Exchange Server 2016, and Exchange Server 2019 were released almost a month later, on June 9. Microsoft experts recommended keeping the mitigations enabled even after applying the patch, as they provide an additional layer of protection. However, applying these mitigations may cause issues (for example, errors when printing calendars and displaying images in OWA).

⚠️ Please note that Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, which are out of support, are also affected by this vulnerability. Only customers enrolled in the Period 2 Extended Security Update (ESU) program are eligible to receive Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 security updates released between May and October 2026.

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