CVE-2024-41843 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 08/23/2024
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 • 03/13/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform widely deployed across enterprise environments for digital experience management. This platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and delivering digital content across multiple channels while providing robust authoring capabilities for content creators and administrators. The vulnerability in question affects versions 6.5.20 and earlier, which encompasses a substantial portion of deployed instances within enterprise organizations. These systems typically handle sensitive business data and user interactions through various forms and content entry points that require robust security measures to prevent unauthorized script execution.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability specifically targets form fields within the Adobe Experience Manager interface, creating a persistent threat vector where malicious scripts can be injected and stored within the application's database or content repository. This flaw operates at the application layer where user input is processed and rendered without adequate sanitization or encoding mechanisms. The vulnerability manifests when administrators or content creators interact with form fields that do not properly validate or escape user-supplied data before storing it in the system. When other users subsequently access pages containing these compromised form fields, the malicious JavaScript executes within their browser context, potentially compromising their session or executing unauthorized actions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution to encompass potential data exfiltration, session hijacking, and privilege escalation attacks. An attacker could craft malicious scripts that steal cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive information from authenticated users browsing to affected pages. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload persists even after the initial injection, creating a long-term threat that can affect multiple users over extended periods. This vulnerability particularly threatens administrative interfaces where privileged users may interact with compromised form fields, potentially enabling attackers to escalate privileges or access restricted system functionalities.
Security practitioners should consider this vulnerability in relation to CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a technique under T1059.007 for scripting and T1566 for credential access through social engineering. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent script injection, along with regular security assessments of form fields and content management interfaces. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper sanitization of user inputs in content management systems, particularly those handling administrative functions where the potential for privilege escalation exists. Regular patching and updates of Adobe Experience Manager installations should be prioritized to address this and similar vulnerabilities.