CVE-2023-48536 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.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/06/2024
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 rendering components that process user input through web forms, URL parameters, and API endpoints. This particular vulnerability resides within the platform's client-side processing mechanisms, specifically affecting the DOM-based cross-site scripting implementation that handles user-provided data within the browser environment. The vulnerability represents a critical security gap that allows malicious actors to inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the victim's browser context, potentially compromising the entire user session and access privileges.
The technical flaw manifests through improper sanitization and validation of input parameters within the AEM interface components. When users navigate to specific URLs containing malicious payloads, the vulnerable DOM elements fail to properly escape or encode user-supplied content before rendering it within the browser's document object model. This DOM-based XSS vulnerability occurs because the application directly incorporates untrusted data into executable JavaScript code without adequate context-aware escaping mechanisms. The vulnerability affects versions 6.5.18 and earlier, indicating that the issue stems from a fundamental flaw in how the platform processes user input within its JavaScript frameworks and client-side rendering components. This particular variant differs from traditional XSS vulnerabilities as it operates entirely within the browser's DOM context rather than server-side output, making it particularly challenging to detect through conventional network-based security scanning methods.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities within the victim's browser session. Low-privileged attackers can exploit this vulnerability to escalate their privileges by stealing session cookies, modifying page content, redirecting users to malicious sites, or even performing actions on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability's exploitation requires social engineering to convince victims to click on malicious URLs, but once executed, it can compromise the entire administrative interface access. Organizations using AEM versions 6.5.18 and earlier face significant risk of unauthorized access to sensitive content, user data breaches, and potential lateral movement within their network infrastructure. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that AEM administrators often possess elevated privileges and access to critical business data, making this vulnerability a prime target for sophisticated attack campaigns.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected AEM instances to version 6.5.19 or later, which includes the necessary security fixes for the DOM-based XSS vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms at multiple layers of their application architecture, particularly focusing on client-side JavaScript processing. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper HTTP response headers can provide additional protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be executed. Security teams should conduct thorough code reviews and penetration testing to identify similar vulnerabilities within custom AEM implementations and third-party components. Regular security monitoring and user education programs can help detect and prevent social engineering attempts that exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in software applications, and represents a direct threat to the security posture of organizations relying on Adobe Experience Manager for their digital content management operations. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1059.007 technique for script injection, emphasizing the importance of implementing robust client-side security controls to prevent such exploitation vectors.