CVE-2016-4164
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Brackets before 1.7 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Brackets (code editor) before version 1.7 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors. The vulnerability is likely exploitable through project files, extensions, or the live preview functionality commonly used in this editor.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 1.6CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Adobe Brackets versionOpen Adobe Brackets and navigate to Help > About Brackets, or on Windows check the program's properties. On macOS, right-click the app and select Get Info. The version number is displayed in the About dialog.Affected if The version displayed is 1.6 or earlier (e.g., 1.5, 1.4, 1.3, etc.)
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Verify version via application metadataLocate the Brackets application file or installation directory. The version information is typically stored in the application's metadata files, package.json, or the executable's version properties.Affected if The version extracted from metadata is 1.6 or lower
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Confirm live preview or extension usageDetermine if you actively use the Live Preview feature (the lightning bolt icon) to view HTML files in a browser, or if you have third-party extensions installed.Affected if Live Preview is enabled or extensions are installed, combined with version 1.6 or earlier (the XSS attack vectors)
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Check for recent project file handlingReview recent projects opened in Brackets, especially those from untrusted sources or the web. The XSS vulnerability can be triggered through malicious project files.Affected if You have opened project files from external or untrusted sources while running version 1.6 or earlier
You are affected if Adobe Brackets version 1.6 or earlier is installed and you use project files, extensions, or the live preview functionality.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Adobe Brackets to version 1.7 or later to remediate the XSS vulnerability. Review and test any extensions for compatibility post-upgrade.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4164 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-4164 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data