CVE-2023-48531 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 serves as a comprehensive content management platform that enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver digital experiences across multiple channels. The platform's form handling capabilities allow content creators to build interactive forms that collect user data, making these components critical touchpoints for user engagement. When a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists within the form processing functionality, it creates a significant security risk that can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges to compromise user sessions and execute malicious code within victim browsers. This vulnerability specifically affects versions 6.5.18 and earlier, indicating that the security flaw has persisted across multiple releases of the platform's content management capabilities.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient sanitization of user input within form fields that are subsequently stored and displayed. When low-privileged attackers submit malicious JavaScript code through form inputs, the platform fails to properly validate or escape the content before rendering it in subsequent page views. This stored XSS vulnerability allows attackers to inject persistent scripts that execute whenever legitimate users view pages containing the compromised form fields. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that should have been implemented to prevent malicious payloads from being stored in the system's database or content repository. The flaw operates at the application layer and specifically targets the platform's content rendering pipeline where user-supplied data is processed for display.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, and data exfiltration. When victims browse to pages containing the compromised form fields, their browsers execute the injected JavaScript code which can capture keystrokes, steal session cookies, or redirect users to malicious sites. The low privilege requirement for exploitation means that attackers can leverage this vulnerability even without administrative access to the system, making it particularly dangerous for organizations that rely on Adobe Experience Manager for customer-facing applications. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can be exploited to undermine the integrity of the entire content management ecosystem.
Organizations should immediately apply the vendor-provided security patches and updates to address this vulnerability in their Adobe Experience Manager installations. Implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms at the application level can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to prevent similar issues from occurring. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments of their Adobe Experience Manager environments to identify and remediate any additional stored XSS vulnerabilities that may exist. Regular security monitoring and logging of form submission activities can help detect anomalous behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which describes cross-site scripting flaws in web applications and represents a critical risk that requires immediate attention to protect user data and maintain system integrity. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering through malicious content injection, demonstrating how attackers can leverage stored XSS to compromise user systems and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.