CVE-2025-46879 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 06/11/2025
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.22 and earlier are affected by a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be abused by a low privileged 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.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive content management platform widely deployed across enterprise environments for digital experience management. The platform serves as a central hub for content creation, management, and delivery across multiple channels. Given its critical role in enterprise digital infrastructure, vulnerabilities within AEM can pose significant risks to organizations relying on its services. The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.22 and earlier specifically targets the platform's form handling mechanisms, creating a persistent threat vector that can compromise user sessions and data integrity.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within AEM's form processing components. When users submit data through vulnerable forms, the system fails to properly sanitize or encode user-supplied content before storing it in the database. This stored data is then subsequently rendered back to other users without adequate security measures. The vulnerability specifically affects form fields that accept user input, allowing attackers to inject malicious javascript code that persists in the system. The flaw operates at the application layer, exploiting weaknesses in the data sanitization pipeline where user input transitions from submission to display, creating a classic stored XSS attack scenario.
Operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to hijack user sessions, steal sensitive information, and potentially escalate privileges within the AEM environment. Low-privileged attackers can exploit this vulnerability to compromise the integrity of the content management system, potentially accessing restricted areas or manipulating content. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that victims who browse to pages containing the malicious content will execute the injected scripts automatically, making this a particularly dangerous vulnerability for organizations with numerous users interacting with AEM forms. The attack surface is amplified when considering that AEM forms are often used for user registration, feedback collection, and other interactive elements that receive regular input from multiple users.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected AEM versions to the latest available releases. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms across all form handling components, ensuring that user-supplied content undergoes strict sanitization before storage and rendering. Network segmentation and application firewalls can provide additional protective layers, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect anomalous form submission patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through spearphishing attachments and T1059.001 for command and control through script injection. Regular security assessments of form handling components and user input validation mechanisms should be conducted to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in future deployments.