CVE-2024-36160 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 presents a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.20 and earlier, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into form fields that persist and execute when victims browse to affected pages. This vulnerability falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. The flaw exists in the application's handling of user input within form fields, where proper sanitization and validation mechanisms fail to adequately filter or encode malicious content before storage. Attackers can exploit this weakness by submitting crafted JavaScript payloads through form submissions that are then stored server-side and subsequently rendered to other users without proper context-based encoding. The vulnerability represents a significant risk as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary code within the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or further exploitation of the user's privileges. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that malicious payloads persist indefinitely until manually removed, creating a long-term threat vector that can affect multiple users over extended periods. This weakness directly maps to attack techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under T1531 and T1203, which focus on data manipulation and credential access through web application vulnerabilities. The impact extends beyond simple script execution as attackers can leverage this to establish persistent access to user sessions, potentially compromising entire user bases that interact with affected AEM instances. The vulnerability affects the application's content management capabilities where user-generated content is stored and subsequently rendered to other users, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users contribute content through web forms. Organizations running affected AEM versions face significant exposure risks, especially in scenarios where the application handles sensitive user data or serves as a platform for collaborative content creation. The security implications compound when considering that AEM is frequently used in enterprise environments where users may have elevated privileges or access to sensitive corporate data. The vulnerability demonstrates a failure in the application's input validation and output encoding mechanisms, which should be implemented at multiple layers according to security best practices. Proper mitigation requires immediate patching of affected systems and implementation of robust input sanitization measures to prevent similar issues in future deployments. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and additional monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. The flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the principle of least privilege and proper data validation, highlighting the critical importance of comprehensive security testing and validation of user inputs in web applications. This vulnerability type commonly appears in applications where user-generated content is not adequately filtered or encoded before storage, making it a prevalent issue across many content management systems and web applications. The persistence of stored XSS vulnerabilities makes them particularly dangerous as they can remain undetected for extended periods while continuously affecting users who access the compromised content. Security teams should prioritize immediate remediation of this vulnerability and conduct thorough assessments of their AEM implementations to identify potential similar weaknesses in other components or modules.