Pressing ESC to abandon asset edit locks the UI — requires new tab to recover

Problem Statement

Pressing the Escape key to cancel out of an asset/file editor (most notably VTL files)
leaves the entire dotCMS authoring UI in a locked, unresponsive state. The interface
cannot be recovered without opening a new tab.

Steps to Reproduce

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sb-J43-IagVdLeWOs_Je-NHoIeRJBXWj/view?usp=drive_link

Steps to Reproduce

1. Navigate to a VTL file (or other asset) in the dotCMS authoring UI
2. Double-click to open the file/asset editor
3. Press the Escape key to back out without saving

Acceptance Criteria

Expected Behavior

The editor closes and the user is returned to the normal, functional UI state.

Actual Behavior

The entire authoring interface becomes locked and unresponsive. Manual refresh does
not recover it — the user must open a new browser tab to continue working.

dotCMS Version

26.04.21-01

Severity

Medium - Some functionality impacted

Links

https://helpdesk.dotcms.com/a/tickets/36725

https://helpdesk.dotcms.com/a/tickets/36747

Start by reproducing the Escape-key flow in the dotCMS authoring UI with a VTL file or other asset, using the linked recording as context. Trace the asset editor's cancel and Escape handling to identify why the UI remains locked; done means the editor closes and the authoring interface remains responsive without opening a new tab.