CVE-2023-48594 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, managing vast amounts of user-generated content through forms and interactive elements. The platform's architecture relies heavily on client-side rendering and dynamic content delivery, making it susceptible to various web application vulnerabilities. When attackers exploit stored XSS flaws within such systems, they can manipulate the platform's content delivery mechanisms to inject malicious scripts that persist across user sessions and interactions. This vulnerability specifically targets the form handling capabilities of Adobe Experience Manager, where user inputs are processed and stored within the system's database or content repository.
The technical flaw manifests in how the system processes and renders user inputs submitted through forms, particularly in the way it handles special characters and script tags within form fields. Attackers with low-privileged access can submit malicious payloads containing JavaScript code through form submission interfaces, which the system subsequently stores without adequate sanitization or encoding. When other users navigate to pages containing these stored form fields, the malicious scripts execute within their browser context, bypassing standard security mechanisms like the Same-Origin Policy. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding practices within the platform's content rendering pipeline, where the system fails to properly escape or filter potentially dangerous characters that could be interpreted as executable code by web browsers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, creating a persistent threat vector that can compromise user sessions and facilitate more sophisticated attacks. Low-privileged attackers can leverage this flaw to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious domains, or inject additional malicious content that can persist across multiple user interactions. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payloads remain active until manually removed by administrators, providing attackers with extended time windows for exploitation. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where Adobe Experience Manager serves as a central hub for customer interactions, employee portals, and public-facing websites, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise user data or system integrity. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and it maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 related to spearphishing attachments, as attackers can use this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads through seemingly legitimate form submissions.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the Adobe Experience Manager platform, particularly within form handling components. Organizations should enforce strict sanitization of all user inputs, applying proper HTML encoding to prevent script execution in rendered content. The platform requires immediate patching to address the vulnerability, with administrators implementing additional security controls such as Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution capabilities. Regular security audits should verify that all form fields and content submission interfaces properly sanitize inputs, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect unusual content patterns that might indicate injection attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and privilege escalation controls to limit the impact of compromised low-privileged accounts, ensuring that even if attackers can submit malicious content, they cannot escalate their privileges or access sensitive system components.