CVE-2023-48502 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 12/15/2023
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier are affected by a Cross-site Scripting (DOM-based XSS) vulnerability. If a low-privileged attacker is able to convince a victim to visit a URL referencing a vulnerable page, malicious JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/05/2024
Adobe Experience Manager serves as a comprehensive content management platform that enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver digital experiences across multiple channels. The platform's architecture includes various administrative interfaces and content editing functionalities that are accessible through web-based user interfaces. These interfaces process user inputs and generate dynamic content, making them potential attack surfaces for malicious actors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in the web application's security mechanisms. The specific vulnerability affects the platform's handling of user-supplied data within its DOM-based scripting environment, creating opportunities for attackers to inject malicious code that executes in the context of authenticated users' browsers.
The vulnerability manifests as a DOM-based cross-site scripting flaw that occurs when the application fails to properly sanitize or validate user-provided input that is subsequently processed within the document object model. This particular weakness allows attackers to craft malicious URLs that, when visited by a victim, trigger the execution of arbitrary JavaScript code within the victim's browser context. The DOM-based nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious script is executed as part of the page's dynamic behavior rather than being reflected in HTTP response headers or server-side generated content. This makes the attack more subtle and potentially harder to detect through traditional security monitoring approaches that focus on HTTP traffic analysis.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform actions with the privileges of the authenticated user. Low-privileged attackers who can convince victims to click on malicious links can potentially escalate their access to higher privileges within the AEM environment. The vulnerability affects versions 6.5.18 and earlier, indicating that the issue has been present for several release cycles and represents a persistent weakness in the platform's input validation mechanisms. The attack vector relies on social engineering to deliver the malicious payload, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users regularly interact with external links and may not be sufficiently security-aware to recognize suspicious URLs.
Organizations utilizing Adobe Experience Manager should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the latest supported versions that contain patches for this vulnerability. The platform's security configuration should be reviewed to ensure that proper input validation is implemented across all user-facing interfaces and that appropriate content security policies are enforced. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, though they should not be relied upon as the sole mitigation strategy. Security awareness training for users who interact with AEM administrative interfaces is essential to reduce the risk of successful social engineering attacks that leverage this vulnerability. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting weaknesses, and represents a technique that attackers might employ to establish persistent access or escalate privileges within compromised systems. Organizations should also consider implementing automated scanning tools that can detect similar DOM-based XSS vulnerabilities in their web applications and ensure that all user inputs are properly escaped or validated before being processed by the DOM.