CVE-2023-48522 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 web content management and digital asset handling. The platform's widespread adoption across organizations makes it a prime target for cyber adversaries seeking to exploit vulnerabilities that could compromise user sessions and data integrity. This particular vulnerability resides within the form handling mechanisms of Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier, where input validation fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it within web pages. The stored XSS flaw specifically affects form fields that accept user input, creating a persistent vector where malicious scripts can be injected and subsequently executed whenever the compromised data is displayed to other users.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and output encoding practices within the AEM framework's form processing pipeline. When low-privileged attackers submit malicious JavaScript payloads through form fields, the system fails to properly escape or validate the content before storing it in the database or rendering it in subsequent page displays. This stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious code persists and executes automatically whenever legitimate users interact with the affected form fields, creating a continuous attack surface that can be leveraged for session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious domains. The vulnerability operates under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1531 which focuses on use of web shell for persistence and command execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to manipulate user sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the AEM environment. When victims browse to pages containing the compromised form fields, their browsers execute the injected JavaScript code, which could redirect them to phishing sites, steal session cookies, or perform actions on their behalf within the AEM application. This creates a significant risk for enterprise environments where AEM is used for sensitive content management, user authentication, or customer data handling. The low privilege requirement for exploitation makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by attackers with minimal access rights, potentially leading to broader compromise of the digital experience platform. Organizations using vulnerable AEM versions face increased risk of data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive content, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected AEM instances to the latest available security releases from Adobe, which typically include enhanced input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious script patterns, regular security scanning of form fields and user input areas, and comprehensive monitoring of user activity for signs of unauthorized script injection. Input validation should be strengthened at multiple layers including client-side, server-side, and database-level sanitization to ensure that any potentially malicious content is properly neutralized before processing. Network segmentation and privilege separation can help limit the potential impact if exploitation occurs, while regular security awareness training for content authors and administrators can help identify and prevent potential social engineering attacks that might attempt to leverage this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to further restrict script execution and reduce the effectiveness of potential XSS attacks.