CVE-2023-48562 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 • 09/20/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive digital experience platform that enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver personalized content across multiple channels. The platform serves as a critical component in enterprise digital strategies, handling sensitive user data through various form interactions and content management functionalities. This stored cross-site scripting vulnerability specifically targets the form handling mechanisms within AEM's content management capabilities, creating a persistent security risk that can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges.
The technical flaw manifests in how AEM processes and stores user input within form fields, particularly in versions 6.5.18 and earlier. When users submit data through forms, the system fails to properly sanitize or encode the input before storing it in the backend database or content repository. This allows malicious actors with low-privileged accounts to inject malicious JavaScript code directly into form fields that are later rendered to other users. The vulnerability follows the CWE-79 pattern of cross-site scripting, specifically categorized under stored XSS where the malicious payload is permanently stored and executed during subsequent page requests. The attack vector leverages the platform's content rendering capabilities to execute the injected scripts in the victim's browser context.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to perform session hijacking, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the compromised environment. A low-privileged attacker can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to user sessions, steal sensitive information, or manipulate content displayed to other users. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that once the malicious payload is injected, it continues to affect all users who view the affected content, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users interact with shared content repositories. The attack chain typically involves an attacker with basic user permissions submitting malicious input, which gets stored in the system, and then executed when other users browse to pages containing the vulnerable form fields.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the AEM platform. Organizations should immediately upgrade to patched versions of Adobe Experience Manager, specifically targeting versions beyond 6.5.18 to eliminate the stored XSS vulnerability. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers, enforcing strict input sanitization, and conducting regular security assessments of form handling components can significantly reduce the attack surface. The remediation process should include thorough code reviews of form processing modules, implementation of automated input validation, and regular penetration testing to identify similar vulnerabilities in custom extensions. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to provide additional layers of protection against XSS attacks, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for valid accounts as part of their overall defensive strategy.