CVE-2024-36176 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 digital experience platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise web content management and digital asset handling. The platform's widespread adoption across organizations makes it a prime target for sophisticated cyber attacks, particularly those leveraging persistent vulnerabilities that can compromise user sessions and data integrity. This stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists within the form processing mechanisms of AEM versions 6.5.20 and earlier, creating a persistent threat vector that can be exploited across multiple user interactions. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within the form field processing pipeline, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists in the application's data storage and executes whenever the compromised data is rendered to users.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data within form fields, particularly affecting the rich text editing components and content management interfaces. When users submit forms containing malicious payloads, the application fails to properly encode or validate the input before storing it in the repository. This stored data then becomes executable when other users view the page containing the compromised form fields, creating a classic persistent XSS attack scenario. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no privileged access to exploit, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by attackers with minimal privileges. The attack vector involves injecting malicious JavaScript code through form inputs that are then rendered without proper sanitization, potentially enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, creating potential pathways for more sophisticated attacks including privilege escalation and data exfiltration. Attackers can leverage the persistent nature of stored XSS to establish backdoors within the application, monitor user activities, and harvest sensitive information from authenticated sessions. The vulnerability affects all users of the affected AEM versions, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where multiple administrators and content creators interact with the platform. Organizations may experience unauthorized access to confidential content, disruption of business operations, and potential compliance violations due to the exposure of sensitive data through browser-based attacks. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the impact can persist long after the initial compromise, making detection and remediation more challenging.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected AEM instances to the latest supported versions that contain the necessary security fixes. Organizations must implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all form processing components, ensuring that user-supplied data is properly sanitized before storage. Security teams should deploy web application firewalls with XSS detection capabilities and establish monitoring procedures to identify suspicious form submissions. The implementation of content security policies and proper session management can help reduce the attack surface, while regular security assessments should verify the effectiveness of implemented controls. Organizations should also consider implementing privileged access management controls and regular security training for administrators to prevent exploitation through social engineering or credential compromise. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1531 which covers the use of malicious scripts in web applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and output encoding as fundamental security controls, emphasizing the need for defense-in-depth strategies in enterprise web applications.