CVE-2024-52818 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 12/11/2024
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.21 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 • 02/19/2025
Adobe Experience Manager serves as a comprehensive content management platform that enables organizations to create, manage, and deliver digital experiences across multiple channels. The platform's widespread adoption in enterprise environments makes it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit vulnerabilities that could compromise user sessions and access sensitive data. When vulnerabilities exist within such critical infrastructure components, the potential impact extends far beyond individual user exposure to encompass complete system compromise and data breaches.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.21 and earlier represents a significant security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into form fields that are subsequently stored and rendered. This particular flaw falls under the CWE-0000079 category, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities where input validation and output encoding are insufficient to prevent malicious script execution. The vulnerability operates by bypassing the platform's input sanitization mechanisms, enabling attackers to submit crafted payloads that persist within the application's database or storage mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with the capability to hijack user sessions, steal authentication tokens, and potentially escalate privileges within the application. When victims browse to pages containing the vulnerable form fields, their browsers execute the malicious JavaScript code, which can perform actions such as redirecting users to malicious sites, stealing cookies and session data, or even injecting additional malicious code. This persistent nature of stored XSS means that the vulnerability remains active until the malicious content is removed from the application's database, potentially affecting multiple users over extended periods.
Attackers can leverage this vulnerability through various methods including social engineering campaigns where they submit malicious payloads through legitimate user interface forms, or by exploiting misconfigurations in the platform's input handling. The vulnerability's presence in Adobe Experience Manager's form processing components means that any user-facing input fields, including those used for comments, feedback, user profiles, or content submission, could serve as entry points for malicious code injection. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which describes the use of malicious content to compromise systems through social engineering.
Organizations should immediately implement comprehensive mitigations including input validation and output encoding mechanisms, regular security patching, and the implementation of web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads. The platform's administrators should also conduct thorough code reviews and input sanitization audits to identify all potential injection points. Additionally, implementing content security policies and disabling unnecessary scripting capabilities within the application can significantly reduce the attack surface. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities across the entire application ecosystem.