CVE-2024-26105 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 03/18/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.19 and earlier are affected by a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. If an attacker is able to convince a victim to visit a URL referencing a vulnerable page, malicious JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/15/2025
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 architecture includes numerous web interfaces and administrative components that process user input through various parameters and query strings. This particular vulnerability resides within the application's handling of user-supplied input in URL parameters, specifically affecting versions 6.5.19 and earlier. The reflected XSS flaw occurs when the application fails to properly sanitize or encode user-provided data before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages. When a victim clicks on a maliciously crafted URL containing encoded script payloads, the application reflects this malicious content back to the user's browser without adequate validation or output encoding, creating an execution environment for attacker-controlled JavaScript code.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft a malicious URL that includes JavaScript code within its parameters, which are then processed by the vulnerable AEM instance. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious script is not stored on the server but rather injected through a URL parameter that gets immediately reflected back to the user's browser. This type of attack vector typically involves encoding malicious payloads using techniques such as html entity encoding or javascript escape sequences to bypass basic input validation measures. The vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-79 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws in software applications. From an operational perspective, the attack requires social engineering to convince victims to click on the malicious link, making it a client-side attack that leverages user trust and interaction as the primary attack vector.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities within the victim's browser context. Attackers can leverage the reflected XSS to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, redirect victims to malicious sites, or harvest sensitive information from the user's browser. The severity of this vulnerability is heightened by the fact that AEM systems often contain administrative interfaces and sensitive content management capabilities that could be exploited to gain deeper access to organizational resources. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering tactics including spearphishing with a link, making it a significant concern for organizations that rely on AEM for their digital presence management. The reflected nature of the XSS also means that the attack is immediately effective upon user interaction, without requiring any persistent infrastructure or long-term exploitation strategies.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected AEM instances to address this vulnerability, as the remediation involves updating to versions that include proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms. The recommended mitigation strategy includes implementing comprehensive input validation at multiple layers of the application architecture, including parameter validation, content encoding, and proper output sanitization. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts and establish monitoring for suspicious URL patterns. Additionally, security awareness training for administrators and users can help reduce the risk of successful social engineering attacks that exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization and output encoding in web applications, particularly in content management systems that process user-supplied data through web interfaces. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their AEM implementations to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their digital infrastructure.