CVE-2025-46963 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 adopted by enterprises for digital experience management and web publishing operations. The platform serves as a central hub for creating, managing, and delivering digital content across multiple channels while providing robust features for form handling and user interaction. This vulnerability affects version 6.5.22 and earlier releases, indicating a significant portion of deployed instances remain at risk. The stored XSS flaw specifically targets form fields within the AEM interface, creating a persistent threat vector that can compromise user sessions and execute unauthorized code.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output sanitization within the form processing components of Adobe Experience Manager. When users submit data through vulnerable form fields, the system fails to properly sanitize or escape malicious script content before storing it in the database or rendering it in subsequent page displays. This allows attackers to inject JavaScript payloads that persist in the system and execute whenever the affected content is rendered to other users. The vulnerability operates as a classic stored XSS attack where malicious code is stored on the server and executed in the victim's browser context, bypassing typical client-side security mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform session hijacking, steal user credentials, and manipulate content displayed to legitimate users. Low privileged attackers who can submit data through forms gain significant leverage to compromise higher privilege users who may view the malicious content. This threat vector aligns with CWE-79 which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as weaknesses in input validation and output encoding. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that AEM is frequently used in enterprise environments where users may have elevated permissions and access to sensitive business data.
Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can leverage the stored XSS to perform various malicious activities including but not limited to cookie theft, redirecting users to malicious domains, defacing content, or establishing persistent backdoors through the compromised form fields. The attack chain typically involves an attacker submitting malicious JavaScript through a form, which gets stored and later executed when other users view the content. This vulnerability can be classified under ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which covers social engineering through spearphishing with a link, as attackers may craft malicious form submissions to trick users into executing the embedded scripts. The persistent nature of stored XSS makes this particularly dangerous for long-term exploitation and data exfiltration campaigns.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of Adobe Experience Manager instances to version 6.5.23 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include implementing strict input validation at multiple layers, deploying Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution, and conducting regular security assessments of form handling components. Network segmentation and monitoring of form submission activities can help detect potential exploitation attempts. Security teams should also implement automated scanning tools to identify vulnerable form fields and ensure proper output encoding is applied to all user-provided content before storage or display. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that the fixes do not introduce regressions in legitimate form functionality while maintaining the security posture of the overall AEM deployment.