CVE-2023-48598 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 serves as a content management system for enterprise organizations. The platform enables content creators to build and manage digital assets through various form-based interfaces. This particular vulnerability exists within the form handling mechanisms of AEM versions 6.5.18 and earlier, where user-supplied data is not properly sanitized before being rendered back to users. The flaw specifically affects form fields that accept user input and subsequently display that input without adequate validation or encoding measures. Attackers with low-privileged access can exploit this weakness by submitting malicious JavaScript code through form fields that are later displayed to other users. The vulnerability manifests as a stored XSS condition because the malicious payload persists in the system and executes whenever the affected page is accessed. This represents a significant security risk as it allows attackers to maintain persistent access to victim sessions and potentially escalate privileges within the application. The technical implementation fails to apply proper output encoding or sanitization to user-provided content before rendering it in web contexts, creating an environment where attacker-controlled scripts can execute within the security context of legitimate users. From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability undermines the integrity of user interactions and can lead to session hijacking, data theft, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that AEM is frequently used for customer-facing applications where users may have varying privilege levels. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws and follows patterns identified in the OWASP Top Ten project's A03:2021 category for injection vulnerabilities. The threat model suggests that attackers may leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent backdoors or conduct phishing campaigns against other users within the same AEM instance. The impact extends beyond simple script execution as it enables potential data exfiltration, credential theft, and privilege escalation attacks that could compromise entire enterprise applications. Organizations utilizing AEM versions prior to 6.5.19 should urgently implement mitigations including input validation, output encoding, and application-level security controls to prevent exploitation. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for spearphishing attachment, as attackers may use this vector to deliver malicious payloads. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious input patterns within form fields. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization in web applications and highlights how even low-privileged attackers can cause significant damage when proper security controls are absent. Organizations should review their AEM configurations and ensure that all user input is properly validated and encoded before being stored or displayed. The remediation process requires updating to patched versions of AEM while implementing additional security layers including content security policies and regular security assessments of form-based interfaces.