CVE-2023-48521 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 operations. The platform's architecture includes numerous form-based interaction points that enable content creators and administrators to build dynamic web experiences. These form fields, while essential for user interaction, create potential attack vectors when not properly sanitized. The vulnerability exists within the form processing mechanisms that handle user input data, specifically failing to adequately validate and sanitize content submitted through these interfaces. This weakness allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists within the application's database or storage mechanisms, creating a stored XSS condition that can affect multiple users.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient input validation and output encoding processes applied to form field data within Adobe Experience Manager's content management subsystem. When users submit content through forms, the system fails to properly sanitize the input before storing it, allowing malicious scripts to remain embedded in the database. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 6.5.18, indicating a long-standing issue in the platform's data handling pipeline. The attack requires minimal privileges, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by users with basic access rights rather than requiring elevated administrative privileges. This low-barrier entry point significantly increases the attack surface and potential impact within enterprise environments where multiple users may have varying levels of access to form-based interfaces.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates a persistent threat vector that can compromise user sessions and potentially lead to broader system compromise. When victims browse to pages containing the maliciously injected content, their browsers execute the embedded JavaScript code, which could perform various malicious actions including session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payload remains active until manually removed from the system, potentially affecting numerous users over extended periods. Organizations utilizing Adobe Experience Manager for customer-facing applications, internal portals, or content management systems face significant risk, as the vulnerability can be leveraged to compromise user trust and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Organizations should immediately implement comprehensive input validation measures and output encoding mechanisms to prevent malicious content from being stored within the application's form fields. The recommended mitigation strategy involves applying Adobe's official security patches and updates as soon as they become available, while simultaneously implementing additional security controls such as content security policies and web application firewalls. Security teams should conduct thorough assessments of all form-based interfaces within their Adobe Experience Manager installations to identify and remediate any additional vulnerabilities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that should be addressed through proper input sanitization and output encoding. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1531 and T1059.007, representing external compromise through application vulnerabilities and command and scripting interpreter execution respectively. Regular security monitoring and user access reviews should be implemented to detect potential exploitation attempts and ensure proper privilege controls remain in place.