CVE-2018-15971 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.4, 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, and 6.0 have a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to sensitive information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/05/2020
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise digital experiences across numerous organizations. The platform provides robust capabilities for managing digital assets, creating personalized content, and delivering seamless user experiences across multiple channels. Given its widespread adoption in enterprise environments, vulnerabilities within AEM can pose significant risks to organizations relying on its services for critical business operations and customer interactions.
The reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability identified in CVE-2018-15971 stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the AEM framework. This flaw manifests when user-supplied data is reflected back in application responses without proper sanitization or encoding, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability specifically affects versions 6.4, 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, and 6.0, indicating a widespread issue across multiple release branches that have been in production use for extended periods. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that attackers can craft malicious URLs containing script payloads that, when clicked by unsuspecting users, execute within the victim's browser context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as successful exploitation can lead to sensitive information disclosure through various attack vectors. An attacker could potentially extract session cookies, authentication tokens, or other sensitive data from users' browser contexts, enabling unauthorized access to protected resources within the AEM environment. This capability significantly undermines the security posture of organizations using these affected versions, as it creates opportunities for persistent unauthorized access and data exfiltration. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions suggests that organizations may have been exposed to risk for extended periods without detection, particularly given that these versions were widely deployed across enterprise environments.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation efforts by upgrading to patched versions of Adobe Experience Manager that address this reflected XSS vulnerability. The mitigation strategy should include implementing comprehensive input validation mechanisms, deploying proper output encoding for all user-supplied content, and establishing robust web application firewalls to detect and prevent malicious requests. Additionally, security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement monitoring controls to detect anomalous traffic patterns that may indicate attempted exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that should be addressed through comprehensive security controls and regular vulnerability assessments.
The exploitation of this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches in enterprise content management systems. Organizations relying on legacy versions of AEM should consider implementing additional security controls and monitoring mechanisms to mitigate risk while planning for comprehensive system upgrades. The incident highlights the need for continuous security assessment and the importance of establishing robust patch management processes to prevent similar vulnerabilities from remaining unaddressed for extended periods. Given the potential for sensitive information disclosure, organizations should also consider implementing data loss prevention measures and access controls to limit the impact of potential exploitation attempts.