CVE-2024-36153 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform widely deployed across enterprise environments for digital experience management. The platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and delivering digital content across multiple channels. Organizations rely heavily on AEM for their web presence, making it a critical component in enterprise security infrastructure. The vulnerability affects versions 6.5.20 and earlier, indicating this is a long-standing issue that has persisted through multiple releases. These versions typically include features for form creation, content management, and user interaction handling that make them susceptible to injection attacks.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability manifests when user input is not properly sanitized before being stored in the system's database or content repository. This flaw allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into form fields that are subsequently rendered to other users. The vulnerability specifically targets the form handling mechanisms within AEM, where user-submitted content is processed and displayed without adequate input validation or output encoding. When victims navigate to pages containing these compromised form fields, the malicious scripts execute within their browser context, potentially compromising their sessions and accessing sensitive information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal authentication tokens, and access restricted content. The stored nature of the XSS means that the malicious payload persists in the system and affects multiple users over time. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges, access administrative functions, or exfiltrate sensitive data from authenticated users. The attack surface includes not only public-facing forms but also internal administrative interfaces where users may encounter compromised content. This vulnerability can be particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where AEM is used for sensitive business operations, employee portals, or customer data management.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected AEM versions to address the root cause of the input validation failure. Organizations must implement comprehensive input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms for all user-submitted content. Security teams should establish regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify similar issues in custom implementations. The remediation process should include thorough testing of form handling components and validation of all content rendering processes. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to provide additional layers of protection. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a common attack vector categorized under ATT&CK technique T1566 for initial access through malicious content.