CVE-2024-52825 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 presents a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.21 and earlier, where attackers can inject malicious javascript code into form fields that persist and execute when victims view the affected pages. This vulnerability resides in the content management system's handling of user input within form elements, creating a persistent threat vector that allows attackers to establish footholds within victim environments. The flaw enables adversaries to manipulate the application's user interface by embedding malicious scripts that execute in the context of legitimate users' browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or further exploitation of the compromised systems. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of AEM's form processing mechanisms, where user-supplied data is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered back to users. This represents a significant security weakness in the application's input validation controls, as it fails to adequately filter or escape special characters that could be interpreted as executable code by web browsers. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that malicious payloads remain persistent within the application's database or content repository, making them particularly dangerous as they can affect multiple users over extended periods without requiring repeated exploitation attempts. The impact extends beyond simple script execution, as successful exploitation could enable attackers to access sensitive user data, manipulate content, or redirect users to malicious sites. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1531 which covers the use of malicious scripts to gain unauthorized access to systems. Organizations using affected AEM versions should prioritize immediate remediation through official patches provided by Adobe, as the vulnerability creates a persistent threat that can be leveraged for ongoing attacks against users of the platform.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization within AEM's form handling components, where user-entered content flows directly into HTML rendering without proper context-aware escaping mechanisms. Attackers can exploit this weakness by submitting malicious payloads through form fields that are subsequently stored and displayed to other users, creating a chain reaction of potential compromise. The vulnerability affects both the authoring and publishing environments of AEM, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate content across the entire content management ecosystem. Security controls that should prevent such attacks include proper output encoding, Content Security Policy enforcement, and comprehensive input validation at multiple layers of the application stack. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that even if immediate patching occurs, previously injected payloads may continue to affect users until the compromised data is manually removed from the system. Organizations should implement additional monitoring and detection measures to identify potential exploitation attempts and verify the integrity of stored content. The vulnerability also highlights weaknesses in the application's security posture, particularly regarding the lack of automated sanitization of user-generated content and insufficient protection against malicious input in form fields. This flaw represents a significant risk to enterprise environments that rely on AEM for content management, as it can be exploited to compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the entire content delivery system.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate implementation of Adobe's official security patches, which address the root cause by enhancing input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the AEM platform. Organizations must also implement additional protective measures such as comprehensive content filtering, regular security scanning of stored content, and enhanced monitoring for suspicious user activity. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of defense by restricting the execution of unauthorized scripts, while proper input validation should be enforced at both the application and database levels to prevent malicious code from being stored. Security teams should conduct thorough audits of existing content to identify and remove any previously injected malicious payloads, and establish automated processes to continuously monitor for new threats. The vulnerability also necessitates enhanced security awareness training for content authors and administrators who interact with form fields, as social engineering attacks may attempt to exploit this weakness through crafted submissions. Regular vulnerability assessments should be performed to identify similar weaknesses in related applications and ensure that input handling mechanisms are consistently secure across the entire technology stack. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems specifically configured to detect and prevent XSS attack patterns targeting AEM components, providing an additional protective barrier against exploitation attempts.