CVE-2025-46886 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 • 06/11/2025
Adobe Experience Manager represents a comprehensive digital experience platform that serves as a content management system for enterprise organizations. The platform handles sensitive user data through various form interactions and content management functionalities. This stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists within the form processing mechanisms of Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.22 and earlier, creating a persistent security weakness that can be exploited by attackers with minimal privileges. The vulnerability specifically targets input fields that store user-submitted data, allowing malicious actors to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists in the system's database.
The technical flaw manifests when user input submitted through forms is not properly sanitized or validated before being stored and subsequently rendered back to other users. This stored XSS vulnerability operates by allowing an attacker to submit malicious script code through a form field that gets stored server-side. When other users view the page containing the vulnerable form field, the malicious JavaScript executes within their browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability's persistence stems from the lack of proper input sanitization mechanisms that should validate and escape user-supplied content before it is stored in the database.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to compromise user sessions and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive information. Low privilege attackers can exploit this weakness to escalate their access within the system by stealing session cookies or performing actions on behalf of legitimate users. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on user-generated content through forms, as the malicious code can propagate to multiple users who interact with the compromised data. Attackers can leverage this weakness to conduct phishing attacks, steal confidential information, or manipulate content displayed to other users within the AEM environment.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should include implementing comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms for all user-supplied data. Organizations should deploy proper content security policies and ensure that all form inputs are sanitized using established security frameworks. The recommended approach involves implementing strict validation rules that reject potentially malicious content and applying appropriate encoding techniques before storing or rendering user data. Additionally, regular security updates and patches should be applied to maintain system integrity, as Adobe has likely addressed this vulnerability in subsequent releases. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring systems to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a significant risk under ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers phishing attacks through malicious links or content injection.