CVE-2025-46882 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.
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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 including websites, mobile applications, and digital marketing campaigns. Given its critical role in enterprise digital infrastructure, vulnerabilities within AEM can pose significant risks to organizational security postures. The stored XSS vulnerability in versions 6.5.22 and earlier specifically targets the platform's form handling mechanisms, which are fundamental components for user interaction and data collection within the system.
The technical flaw manifests in the improper validation and sanitization of user input within form fields that are subsequently stored and rendered back to users. When low privileged attackers submit malicious JavaScript code through vulnerable form fields, the system fails to adequately sanitize this input before storing it in the database or content repository. This stored malicious content is then served back to other users who view the page containing the vulnerable field, executing the injected scripts within their browser context. The vulnerability operates as a classic stored XSS attack vector where the malicious payload persists in the application's data store rather than being reflected in a single request. This characteristic makes the attack more dangerous and persistent compared to reflected XSS variants, as the malicious code can affect multiple users over extended periods without requiring repeated exploitation attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, potentially enabling attackers to perform session hijacking, defacement of content, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the application's context. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to steal user credentials, access sensitive content management features, or manipulate published content to spread malware or phishing attacks. The low privilege requirement for exploitation means that even users with minimal access rights could potentially compromise the platform's integrity. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on user-generated content features, forms, and collaborative editing capabilities within their AEM implementations. The impact is amplified in environments where administrators do not regularly audit form submissions or implement robust input validation measures, creating persistent attack vectors that can remain undetected for extended periods.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including updating to patched versions of Adobe Experience Manager, implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms, and conducting thorough security audits of all form fields and user input points. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 related to spearphishing with malicious attachments or links. Security teams should deploy web application firewalls with XSS detection capabilities, establish regular penetration testing schedules, and implement security monitoring for unusual form submission patterns. Additionally, organizations should review their access control policies to minimize the potential impact of compromised user accounts and ensure proper segregation of duties within their AEM environments. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of all form handling components to verify that input sanitization measures are properly implemented and functioning across all content management workflows.