CVE-2023-48505 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 12/15/2023
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier are affected by a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be abused by a low-privileged attacker to inject malicious scripts into vulnerable form fields. Malicious JavaScript may be executed in a victim’s browser when they browse to the page containing the vulnerable field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/05/2024
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive digital experience platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise content management and digital marketing solutions. The platform's architecture includes robust form handling capabilities that allow organizations to collect user data through web forms. This particular vulnerability exists within the form processing subsystem where user input is not adequately sanitized before being stored and subsequently rendered back to users. The flaw manifests in the way the system handles form field data, specifically in how it processes and displays user-submitted content without proper validation mechanisms. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can manipulate form fields to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists within the application's database or storage layer.
The technical implementation of this stored XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the form rendering pipeline. When users submit data through forms, the system fails to properly escape or filter special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This weakness allows attackers to inject script tags, event handlers, or other malicious payloads that are subsequently executed in the context of other users' browsers when they view the affected content. The vulnerability affects versions 6.5.18 and earlier, indicating that this represents a long-standing issue within the platform's codebase that has persisted across multiple releases. The impact is particularly concerning as it requires minimal privileges to exploit, making it accessible to low-privileged users who may not have direct administrative access to the system. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments or links.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with a persistent foothold within the organization's digital infrastructure. Once an attacker successfully injects malicious code, they can leverage this capability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, or even escalate privileges within the application. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload remains active until manually removed, potentially affecting numerous users over extended periods. Organizations utilizing Adobe Experience Manager for customer data collection, employee onboarding, or public-facing web applications face significant risk exposure. The vulnerability could be exploited to target employees with internal forms, customers submitting support tickets, or visitors accessing public web pages that utilize the platform's form functionality. This persistent threat model makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be used for extended campaigns without requiring repeated exploitation attempts.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the form processing pipeline. Organizations must ensure that all user-submitted data undergoes strict sanitization before being stored or rendered back to users. This includes implementing proper HTML escaping, character encoding, and content security policy headers to prevent script execution. The immediate solution involves upgrading to Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.19 or later, which contains patches addressing this specific vulnerability. Security teams should also implement web application firewall rules to detect and block suspicious input patterns, conduct regular security assessments of form handling components, and establish monitoring procedures to detect unauthorized modifications to form fields. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing privileged access controls and audit logging to track form modifications and identify potential exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that all form fields properly sanitize input and that existing stored payloads are properly cleared from the system.