CVE-2024-36229 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 and earlier Answer: are affected by a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in the context of the victim's browser session. Exploitation of this issue typically requires user interaction, such as convincing a user to click on a specially crafted link or to submit a malicious form.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2025
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 and earlier contain a dom-based cross-site scripting vulnerability that represents a critical security risk for organizations relying on this content management platform. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting and specifically manifests as a DOM-based XSS flaw that enables attackers to inject malicious javascript code into victim browser sessions. The vulnerability exists within the application's handling of user-supplied input that gets processed within the document object model without proper sanitization or encoding mechanisms. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious urls or forms that, when executed by a victim's browser, trigger the execution of unauthorized javascript code within the context of the victim's authenticated session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it can lead to complete session hijacking, data theft, privilege escalation, and unauthorized access to sensitive corporate information. When users interact with maliciously crafted links or form submissions, the browser executes the injected javascript code which can perform actions such as stealing cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or modifying application behavior. This type of attack is particularly dangerous because it operates entirely within the victim's browser environment, making it difficult to detect and trace back to the source. The exploitation typically requires social engineering tactics to convince users to interact with malicious content, which aligns with the ATT&CK framework's technique of social engineering and user execution.
Organizations using Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 and earlier face significant risk from this vulnerability as it can be leveraged for persistent attacks against their digital assets and user bases. The attack surface is broad since AEM applications typically handle numerous user interactions through web forms, url parameters, and dynamic content rendering. Security teams should implement immediate mitigations including input validation, output encoding, and content security policy enforcement to prevent exploitation. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization within web applications and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of web frameworks and content management systems. Organizations should prioritize upgrading to patched versions of Adobe Experience Manager as the primary remediation strategy while implementing additional security controls to reduce the attack surface and protect against similar vulnerabilities in the future.