CVE-2024-36226 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 and earlier are affected by an Improper Input Validation vulnerability that could result in a security feature bypass. A low-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass security measures and affect the integrity of the page. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2025
Adobe Experience Manager suffers from an improper input validation vulnerability that allows low-privileged attackers to bypass critical security controls within versions 6.5.20 and earlier. This weakness resides in the application's handling of user-supplied input data, where insufficient validation mechanisms fail to properly sanitize or verify the legitimacy of submitted parameters. The vulnerability specifically targets security features designed to protect page integrity and access controls, creating a pathway for unauthorized modifications that could compromise the entire content management system. The flaw manifests when the system processes user input without adequate validation checks, enabling malicious actors to inject crafted parameters that circumvent established security boundaries.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires user interaction, indicating that attackers must first establish a foothold within the system through social engineering, phishing, or other initial compromise techniques before leveraging the validation flaw. This requirement suggests the vulnerability operates within the context of a user-facing interface or content submission process where legitimate users interact with the system. The security feature bypass enables attackers to manipulate page content integrity, potentially allowing them to modify or inject malicious code into web pages, alter access permissions, or gain elevated privileges within the application's security framework. The improper input validation creates a direct attack surface where malicious input can be processed without proper sanitization, leading to unauthorized access and modification of sensitive content.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data integrity concerns, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model of Adobe Experience Manager's security architecture. Attackers can exploit this weakness to compromise the authenticity and integrity of web pages, potentially affecting thousands of users who rely on the platform's content management capabilities. The vulnerability affects the application's ability to maintain consistent security policies across different user roles and access levels, creating opportunities for privilege escalation and unauthorized content modification. Organizations using affected versions may experience data breaches, content tampering, or service disruption that could damage their reputation and lead to regulatory compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch application to versions 6.5.21 or later, which contain the necessary validation improvements to address this vulnerability. Organizations should implement additional input validation controls at the application level and consider deploying web application firewalls to detect and block malicious input patterns. Security teams must conduct thorough assessments of user access controls and review existing security policies to identify potential exploitation vectors. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, Improper Input Validation, which is classified under the Common Weakness Enumeration framework as a fundamental security flaw that frequently leads to more severe consequences. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1078 Valid Accounts and T1566 Phishing, as exploitation typically requires initial access through user interaction followed by privilege escalation through security bypass techniques. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring of user activities and content modification patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts.