CVE-2023-48573 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 content management platform widely deployed across enterprise environments for digital experience management and web content delivery. The platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and publishing digital content across multiple channels while providing robust user management and workflow capabilities. Organizations rely heavily on AEM for their digital presence, making it a prime target for cyber adversaries seeking to exploit vulnerabilities within their content management infrastructure. The stored XSS vulnerability in AEM versions 6.5.18 and earlier fundamentally undermines the platform's security posture by allowing malicious actors to inject persistent script code into form fields that can be executed whenever legitimate users interact with the affected content. This vulnerability specifically affects the platform's form handling mechanisms where user input is not properly sanitized or validated before being stored and subsequently rendered in web pages. The flaw exists within the application's input processing pipeline where malicious scripts can be injected into form fields and stored within the system's database or content repository. When legitimate users access pages containing these compromised form fields, the stored JavaScript executes within their browser context, potentially leading to unauthorized actions or data exfiltration.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal privileges as attackers only need access to form fields within the AEM interface to inject malicious code. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the malicious payload persists in the system and can affect multiple users over time, unlike reflected XSS which requires specific user interaction with crafted URLs. This characteristic makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where AEM is used for collaborative content creation and form processing. The vulnerability can be leveraged to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of the victim's browser, potentially enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. Attackers can craft payloads that exploit the victim's browser session, potentially gaining access to sensitive content or administrative capabilities within the AEM environment. The impact extends beyond simple script execution as attackers can leverage the stored XSS to perform more sophisticated attacks including phishing, credential harvesting, or even privilege escalation within the AEM platform. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-79 which represents "Cross-site Scripting" and specifically addresses the stored XSS variant where malicious input is stored and then executed. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a technique under T1566.001 "Phishing" and potentially T1071.001 "Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols" when used for command and control communications. The vulnerability's presence in AEM's form handling components suggests that the issue lies in the platform's content rendering engine where user-supplied data is processed without adequate sanitization. This represents a failure in the platform's input validation and output encoding mechanisms, which are fundamental security controls required to prevent XSS attacks. The exploitation chain begins with an attacker gaining access to form fields within AEM, injecting malicious JavaScript, and then waiting for legitimate users to interact with the compromised content. The attack vector is particularly concerning as it can be initiated through legitimate user interfaces that are designed for content creation and management, making the attack surface larger than typical application vulnerabilities.
Organizations utilizing Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier must implement immediate remediation measures to address this vulnerability. The primary mitigation involves updating to Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.19 or later, which includes patches specifically designed to address the stored XSS vulnerability. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected AEM installations within their environment, particularly focusing on systems that handle user-generated content through form fields. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened around AEM instances to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. Implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms at the application level can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, though these should not be considered replacements for the official patches. Regular security monitoring and log analysis should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts, including monitoring for unusual form submissions or JavaScript injection patterns. Organizations should also review their user access controls and privilege management within AEM to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to form fields and content creation capabilities. The vulnerability's potential for persistent script execution makes it particularly important to maintain continuous monitoring of web content and form fields for signs of compromise. Security awareness training for content creators and administrators should emphasize the dangers of injecting untrusted code into AEM forms and the importance of proper input validation practices. Additionally, implementing web application firewalls and content security policies can provide additional protection layers against exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the patched version to ensure that the security fix does not introduce regressions in functionality or break existing content management workflows.