CVE-2024-26038 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 03/18/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.19 and earlier are affected by a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be abused by an 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.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/16/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform widely adopted by enterprises for digital experience management and web content delivery. The platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and publishing digital content across multiple channels while providing robust features for user authentication, content editing, and form processing. Organizations rely heavily on AEM for their digital presence, making it a critical component of their IT infrastructure. The platform's architecture includes various modules such as form handling capabilities, content authoring tools, and user interface components that facilitate content management operations.
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-26038 manifests as a stored cross-site scripting flaw within the form processing functionality of Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.19 and earlier. This vulnerability occurs when user-supplied data is not properly sanitized or validated before being stored and subsequently rendered in web pages. The flaw specifically affects form fields where user input is persisted in the system and later displayed without adequate output encoding or sanitization. When malicious actors exploit this vulnerability, they can inject malicious JavaScript code into form fields that gets stored in the system's database or content repository. The stored payload remains dormant until accessed by other users who browse to pages containing the vulnerable form fields, at which point the malicious script executes in their browsers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with a persistent vector for various malicious activities. Victims who access pages containing the stored malicious content may experience unauthorized actions such as session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious websites. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the attack can persist long after the initial injection, potentially affecting multiple users over extended periods. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges within the application, access sensitive content, or even compromise the entire AEM instance if proper security controls are not in place. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system by enabling unauthorized access to user sessions and potentially allowing attackers to manipulate content.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including applying the latest security patches released by Adobe to address this vulnerability. The patching process should be prioritized and tested in staging environments before deployment to production systems. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms can provide defense-in-depth protection against similar vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious script injections, along with regular security monitoring to identify potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1059.007 for scripting and T1566.001 for spearphishing with links, as attackers may leverage this vulnerability to deliver malicious payloads through compromised form fields. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities within the AEM environment and other applications within the organization's attack surface.