CVE-2024-36156 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 and touchpoints. Given its critical role in enterprise digital infrastructure, vulnerabilities within AEM can have significant operational and security implications. The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.20 and earlier specifically targets the platform's form handling mechanisms, creating a persistent threat vector that can compromise user sessions and data integrity. This vulnerability resides within the core content management functionality where user inputs are processed and stored within the system's database.
The technical flaw manifests in the improper sanitization of user inputs within form fields that are subsequently rendered in web pages. When users submit data through forms within AEM, the system fails to adequately validate or escape special characters that could be interpreted as executable JavaScript code. This weakness allows attackers to inject malicious payloads that are stored within the application's backend storage mechanisms. The vulnerability is classified as stored XSS because the malicious script is permanently saved and executed whenever users access pages containing the compromised form fields. The attack vector typically involves crafting malicious input strings that include script tags or other JavaScript execution constructs, which are then processed by the AEM application without proper security filtering. This flaw aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities in web applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, creating potential pathways for more sophisticated attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to steal user session cookies, redirect victims to malicious websites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that once injected, malicious scripts persist indefinitely until manually removed, creating a long-term threat that can affect multiple users over extended periods. Organizations relying on AEM for content management, customer engagement, or employee collaboration systems face heightened risk of data breaches, session hijacking, and unauthorized access to sensitive corporate information. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where AEM is used for user-generated content systems, comment forms, or any application that accepts untrusted input from end users. This threat is exacerbated by the fact that AEM is often deployed in high-privilege environments where users may have access to confidential business data, making successful exploitation potentially devastating.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected AEM versions to address the root cause of the vulnerability. Organizations must ensure they are running AEM 6.5.21 or later, which includes the necessary security fixes. Additionally, implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms can provide defense-in-depth protection against similar vulnerabilities. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected AEM installations within their environment and ensure proper access controls are in place. The implementation of web application firewalls and content security policies can provide additional layers of protection. Regular security testing, including penetration testing and code reviews, should be conducted to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in custom AEM extensions or third-party integrations. Organizations should also consider implementing user education programs to raise awareness about phishing and social engineering attacks that could exploit this vulnerability. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1531 and T1059.007, representing application layer persistence and command and scripting interpreter techniques respectively, highlighting the multi-faceted nature of the threat.