CVE-2023-48608 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 12/15/2023
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.18 and earlier are affected by an Improper Input Validation vulnerability. A low-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve a low-integrity impact within the application. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/06/2024
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive digital experience platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise content management and digital asset handling. The platform's architecture includes multiple components that process user inputs through various interfaces including web forms, API endpoints, and content upload mechanisms. This particular vulnerability exists within the input validation controls that govern how the system processes external data submissions. The flaw manifests when the application fails to adequately validate or sanitize user-provided data before processing it within the system's internal workflows.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation checks within the application's input handling routines. Specifically, the system does not properly enforce constraints on the format, length, or content of user-supplied data, allowing malicious inputs to bypass security controls. This weakness enables an attacker to craft inputs that may contain unexpected characters, malformed data structures, or content that exploits the system's processing logic. The vulnerability operates at the application layer where user inputs are accepted and processed, potentially affecting various subsystems including content rendering, form processing, and data storage mechanisms. According to the CWE framework, this corresponds to weakness category 20 which encompasses improper input validation issues.
The operational impact of this vulnerability remains constrained due to the requirement for user interaction and the low-privileged attacker profile. An attacker must first establish a valid account or access level within the system to exploit this weakness effectively. The low-integrity impact suggests that successful exploitation would likely result in limited system access or data manipulation rather than complete system compromise. However, the vulnerability's presence creates potential for escalation paths where initial access could be leveraged to discover additional weaknesses. The requirement for user interaction means that automated exploitation is not feasible, but social engineering or legitimate user compromise could facilitate successful attacks. This characteristic aligns with attack patterns documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under initial access and privilege escalation domains.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patch application to the affected Adobe Experience Manager versions. Organizations must ensure that all instances running version 6.5.18 or earlier receive the appropriate security updates from Adobe. Additional protective measures include implementing comprehensive input validation at multiple layers of the application architecture, deploying web application firewalls to monitor and filter suspicious traffic patterns, and establishing robust user access controls with principle of least privilege enforcement. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be configured to detect unusual user behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify potential input validation gaps and ensure proper implementation of security controls. The vulnerability's classification as low-privileged access requirement suggests that user account management and monitoring should be strengthened to prevent unauthorized access to system resources. Organizations should also consider implementing automated input sanitization routines and regular code reviews to identify and remediate similar validation weaknesses before they can be exploited.