CVE-2023-48576 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 that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise digital experiences. The platform's architecture includes robust form handling mechanisms that process user inputs through various content management interfaces. These form fields are designed to accept and store diverse content types including text, multimedia, and structured data. The vulnerability in question resides within the input validation and output encoding mechanisms of the form processing subsystem. Attackers exploiting this weakness can manipulate form fields through the content management interface, injecting malicious javascript code that persists in the application's database. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that once injected, the malicious payload remains active until manually removed, creating a persistent threat vector that can affect multiple users over extended periods.
The technical flaw manifests in inadequate sanitization of user-supplied input within the form field processing pipeline. Specifically, the application fails to properly escape or encode special characters in form data before storing it in the database. This weakness allows attackers to inject script tags, event handlers, or other malicious code sequences that are subsequently rendered in the browser when legitimate users access the affected pages. The vulnerability affects the content management interface where administrators and content editors can create and modify form elements. When the application retrieves and displays this stored data, it fails to implement proper output encoding mechanisms that would prevent the execution of injected scripts. This represents a classic stored cross-site scripting vulnerability where the attack payload is stored server-side and executed client-side when users interact with the affected content.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, creating a comprehensive threat landscape for enterprise environments. Low-privileged attackers who gain access to content management interfaces can leverage this vulnerability to compromise user sessions, steal sensitive information, or redirect victims to malicious sites. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that the attack can affect multiple users over time without requiring repeated exploitation attempts. Security administrators face the challenge of identifying and remediating compromised content across potentially thousands of form fields throughout the application. The vulnerability undermines the trust model of the content management system, as legitimate users cannot distinguish between benign content and maliciously injected code. Organizations may experience reputational damage, regulatory compliance issues, and potential data breaches if attackers successfully exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive user information or system resources.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Organizations must ensure that all user-supplied content undergoes strict sanitization before storage, with particular attention to form fields that accept rich text or HTML content. The implementation of content security policies and proper output encoding practices should be enforced throughout the application's data processing pipeline. Security patches should be applied immediately to upgrade to versions that address the stored XSS vulnerability, with thorough testing to ensure no regressions occur in existing functionality. Regular security assessments and code reviews should examine input handling mechanisms to identify similar vulnerabilities in other parts of the application. Network monitoring solutions should be configured to detect anomalous user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a technique commonly catalogued in ATT&CK framework under T1059.007 for scripting languages and T1566 for phishing attacks that could leverage this vulnerability for initial access. Organizations should also implement automated scanning tools to identify and remediate stored XSS vulnerabilities across their content management systems.