CVE-2019-7964 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5, and 6.4 have an authentication bypass vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to remote code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/30/2020
Adobe Experience Manager presents a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in versions 6.5 and 6.4 that fundamentally undermines the platform's security posture. This vulnerability resides in the way the system handles authentication requests, specifically within the Sling Servlet Resolver component that processes incoming HTTP requests. The flaw allows attackers to bypass the standard authentication mechanisms by manipulating request parameters and headers, effectively granting unauthorized access to administrative functions and system resources. This authentication bypass represents a severe weakness that aligns with CWE-287, which catalogs improper authentication vulnerabilities that enable attackers to assume the identity of legitimate users.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through carefully crafted HTTP requests that manipulate the authentication flow within Adobe Experience Manager's servlet processing pipeline. Attackers can construct malicious requests that appear to originate from authenticated users while actually being processed as anonymous requests, thereby circumventing the authentication checks that should validate user credentials. The vulnerability specifically affects the handling of the sling.servlet.path parameter and related request attributes that control access to administrative endpoints. This weakness creates a pathway for remote code execution as unauthorized users can gain access to system management interfaces, configuration files, and deployment mechanisms that should only be accessible to authorized administrators. The attack vector operates entirely through HTTP requests without requiring any prior authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access, as successful exploitation can result in complete system compromise and data breaches. Organizations running affected Adobe Experience Manager versions face significant risk of unauthorized content manipulation, data exfiltration, and potential system infiltration that could serve as a foothold for broader network attacks. The vulnerability affects not just individual user accounts but the entire administrative framework of the platform, potentially allowing attackers to modify website content, access sensitive configuration data, and deploy malicious code. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and enables attackers to escalate their privileges within the application environment. The threat landscape is particularly concerning given that Adobe Experience Manager is widely deployed in enterprise environments where it often serves as a critical component of digital marketing infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Adobe Experience Manager instances to the latest security releases that address the authentication bypass flaw. Organizations should implement network segmentation to limit access to Adobe Experience Manager systems and deploy web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious requests targeting authentication endpoints. Additional protective measures include implementing strict access controls, regularly auditing authentication logs, and conducting comprehensive security assessments to identify potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication mechanisms and regularly reviewing user access permissions to minimize the impact of potential compromises. The remediation process must include thorough testing of patches in staging environments before deployment to production systems to ensure that security updates do not introduce regressions in functionality. Organizations should also review their incident response procedures to ensure rapid detection and response to potential exploitation attempts of this vulnerability, as the authentication bypass nature makes detection particularly challenging.