CVE-2024-52834 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 represents a comprehensive content management platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise digital experiences, with version 6.5.21 and earlier containing a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that fundamentally compromises user session integrity and data confidentiality. This vulnerability exists within the form processing mechanisms of the platform, where user input submitted through web forms is not properly sanitized before being stored in the system's database and subsequently rendered back to users. The flaw allows attackers to inject malicious javascript code directly into form fields that are later displayed in web interfaces, creating a persistent vector for exploitation that can affect any user who accesses pages containing these compromised fields.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows a well-established pattern that aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that leverage the stored nature of the vulnerability, meaning the injected scripts remain persistent within the application's data stores rather than requiring each victim to be individually targeted with fresh payloads. This characteristic significantly amplifies the attack surface and reduces the operational overhead for threat actors who can simply submit their malicious content once and wait for unsuspecting users to interact with the compromised form fields. The vulnerability particularly affects the user interface rendering components of AEM, where form data is processed and displayed, creating multiple potential entry points for malicious script execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable sophisticated attack chains that compromise user sessions, steal sensitive information, and potentially facilitate further system compromise. When victims browse to pages containing the vulnerable form fields, their browsers execute the malicious javascript code within the context of their authenticated sessions, creating opportunities for session hijacking, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation attacks. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that even users who do not actively interact with the malicious forms can be compromised simply by accessing pages that display the injected content, making this a particularly dangerous threat vector for enterprise environments where multiple users regularly interact with shared content management systems.
Organizations utilizing affected Adobe Experience Manager versions should immediately implement comprehensive mitigations that align with industry best practices for XSS prevention and adhere to the principles outlined in the ATT&CK framework's web application exploitation techniques. Immediate remediation efforts must focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms that prevent malicious script injection at the point of data entry and ensure that all stored content is properly sanitized before rendering. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive content security policy implementations, regular security assessments of form processing components, and enhanced monitoring for anomalous user input patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, security teams should consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems specifically configured to identify and block known XSS attack patterns targeting AEM platforms, while maintaining detailed audit logs of all form submissions for forensic analysis purposes.