CVE-2023-48564 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 central hub for digital marketing activities and content management, making it a critical component in enterprise digital infrastructure. When vulnerabilities exist within such systems, the potential impact extends far beyond simple data exposure, encompassing complete compromise of user sessions and unauthorized access to sensitive organizational resources.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within form processing mechanisms. This flaw specifically affects form fields where user input is persisted and subsequently rendered without proper sanitization. The vulnerability manifests when malicious scripts are submitted through form inputs and stored within the system's database or content repository. When legitimate users view pages containing these stored inputs, the malicious JavaScript executes within their browser context, creating a persistent threat that can affect multiple users over time.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for organizations using Adobe Experience Manager for customer engagement, lead capture, or employee interaction processes. Low-privileged attackers can exploit this weakness to inject malicious payloads into form fields that are commonly used for contact forms, feedback submissions, or registration processes. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that once exploited, the malicious script will persist and execute whenever affected pages are accessed, potentially compromising user sessions, stealing cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or performing unauthorized actions on behalf of victims.
The technical implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. This weakness classification indicates that the vulnerability exists in the application's data handling mechanisms where user-provided input is not adequately validated or escaped before being rendered in web pages. The attack vector follows standard XSS patterns where malicious input is stored and later executed, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect multiple users without requiring them to interact directly with the malicious content.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding controls within form processing workflows, regular security scanning of form fields, and monitoring for suspicious input patterns. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of principle of least privilege in content management systems, where form input handling should be restricted to prevent arbitrary script injection. Security teams should conduct comprehensive assessments of all form-based interactions within the Adobe Experience Manager platform and ensure that proper content security policies are implemented to prevent stored XSS attacks.
The broader implications extend to the ATT&CK framework where this vulnerability maps to techniques involving client-side code execution and session hijacking. Attackers can leverage this weakness to establish persistent access through user session compromise, potentially escalating privileges or gaining access to additional organizational resources. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to provide additional layers of protection against such attacks, while maintaining regular patching schedules to address known vulnerabilities in enterprise content management systems.