CVE-2023-48581 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 serves as a comprehensive content management platform that enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver digital experiences across multiple channels. The platform's form handling capabilities allow content creators to build interactive forms for user data collection, making it a critical component in digital marketing and customer engagement workflows. When vulnerabilities exist within these form processing mechanisms, they can create significant security risks for organizations relying on the platform for their digital presence.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier represents a critical flaw in input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the form processing pipeline. Attackers with low-privileged access to the platform can exploit this weakness by injecting malicious JavaScript code into form fields that are subsequently stored in the system's database. Unlike reflected XSS vulnerabilities that require specific user interactions, stored XSS allows attackers to persist malicious code that executes whenever victims view the affected form data, creating a more dangerous and persistent threat vector.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, and data exfiltration. When victims browse to pages containing the vulnerable form fields, their browsers execute the injected JavaScript code within the context of their authenticated sessions, potentially allowing attackers to access sensitive information, modify content, or perform unauthorized actions on behalf of legitimate users. This vulnerability particularly threatens organizations that rely on AEM for customer-facing applications where user data is collected through forms.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.19 or later, which contains patches addressing this specific vulnerability. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict input validation controls, enforcing comprehensive output encoding for all form field data, and conducting regular security assessments of form handling components. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and may be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1566 for initial access through web application attacks. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious input patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts.