CVE-2019-8084 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5, 6.4, 6.3 and 6.2 have a reflected cross site scripting vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to sensitive information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2019
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise digital experiences, integrating content creation, management, and delivery capabilities across multiple channels. The platform's architecture includes various components such as the web server, content repository, and administrative interfaces that collectively process user inputs and generate dynamic web responses. This vulnerability exists within the platform's input validation mechanisms, specifically affecting the way the system handles user-supplied data in HTTP response headers. The reflected cross site scripting flaw manifests when user-provided parameters are directly incorporated into server responses without adequate sanitization or encoding, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject client-side scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of input parameters within the AEM application's response handling mechanisms. When users submit requests containing malicious script payloads through parameters such as query strings, form fields, or header values, the system fails to properly encode or sanitize these inputs before including them in HTTP responses. This allows attackers to craft specially designed URLs or requests that, when executed by victims, cause their browsers to render malicious JavaScript code. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious script is not stored on the server but rather reflected back to the user through the server's response, making it particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional security measures.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to access sensitive information through various attack vectors. Successful exploitation could allow unauthorized access to user sessions, enabling session hijacking and privilege escalation attacks. The vulnerability's scope affects all supported versions of Adobe Experience Manager, creating widespread exposure across enterprise environments that rely on this platform for their digital presence. Attackers can leverage this weakness to steal cookies, access administrative interfaces, or redirect users to malicious sites, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the fact that AEM is frequently used in enterprise environments where sensitive business data, customer information, and proprietary content are managed through these systems.
Security professionals should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability, starting with immediate patching of affected AEM versions to address the root cause. The remediation process involves updating to Adobe's patched versions that include proper input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms. Network-based protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional detection and prevention capabilities by monitoring for suspicious parameter patterns and blocking known attack signatures. Input validation should be strengthened at all entry points to ensure that user-supplied data undergoes proper sanitization before processing. The implementation of content security policies and proper header configurations can further reduce the attack surface by preventing script execution in response contexts. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify other potential input validation weaknesses within their AEM implementations, as this vulnerability may indicate broader security gaps in the platform's configuration and deployment practices. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for scripting languages and T1566 for phishing with malicious attachments, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat landscape surrounding this issue.