CVE-2023-48538 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 • 01/06/2024
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform widely deployed across enterprise environments for digital experience management. This platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and delivering digital content across multiple channels. The vulnerability under examination affects versions 6.5.18 and earlier, which constitute a significant portion of the deployed user base. The security implications extend beyond simple web application flaws as AEM serves as a critical component in enterprise digital infrastructure, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations relying on its functionality.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the form processing components of Adobe Experience Manager. When users submit data through forms within the AEM interface, the system fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied content before storing it in the database. This allows malicious actors to inject malicious JavaScript code directly into form fields that are subsequently rendered to other users. The flaw specifically manifests in the handling of user input within form fields, where the application stores the content without sufficient sanitization measures that would prevent script execution when the data is later retrieved and displayed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it enables low-privileged attackers to escalate their access within the system. An attacker with minimal privileges can exploit this weakness to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers when they view pages containing the compromised form fields. This creates a persistent threat vector where the malicious code remains active until the affected form fields are modified or cleared. The vulnerability can be particularly dangerous in environments where AEM is used for internal collaboration, customer portals, or public-facing websites, as it allows attackers to potentially steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions, or redirect users to malicious sites.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with attack patterns documented in the ATT&CK framework under the T1531 and T1566 techniques, which involve the use of malicious inputs to manipulate application behavior and establish persistent access vectors. From a CWE perspective, this represents a classic stored XSS vulnerability classified as CWE-79, which occurs when a web application fails to properly encode output before rendering user-supplied data. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the application's defense-in-depth strategy, where multiple layers of security controls should have prevented the execution of malicious scripts. Organizations using Adobe Experience Manager should consider implementing additional monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect anomalous form submissions and unauthorized script injections.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected versions, with the latest available updates from Adobe providing the primary defense against this vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional input validation measures at the application level, including stricter sanitization of form field content and the implementation of content security policies to limit script execution. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional defense layers, though these should not be considered substitutes for proper application-level fixes. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of all form fields within AEM installations to identify potential vectors for exploitation and establish regular monitoring procedures to detect suspicious activity patterns in user submissions.