CVE-2025-46981 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 digital experience platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise content management and digital marketing operations. The platform's widespread adoption across organizations makes it an attractive target for cyber adversaries seeking to exploit vulnerabilities that could compromise large user bases. This particular vulnerability affects versions 6.5.22 and earlier, indicating that a significant portion of deployed instances may remain at risk, particularly in enterprise environments where software updates often follow extended release cycles. The vulnerability resides within the platform's form handling mechanisms, specifically in how the system processes and renders user input from form fields.
The technical flaw manifests as a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that occurs when user input containing malicious JavaScript code is processed and stored within the application's database or content repository. Unlike reflected XSS attacks that require specific user interaction with crafted links, stored XSS allows attackers to inject malicious code that persists in the application's data store and executes whenever victims view the affected content. This vulnerability specifically impacts form fields within the AEM interface, where low privileged users can submit content that gets rendered back to other users without proper sanitization. The flaw falls under CWE-79 which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as weaknesses in input validation and output encoding.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with the ability to hijack user sessions, steal sensitive cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of victims within the context of their authenticated sessions. In enterprise environments where AEM serves as a central hub for employee collaboration, customer engagement, and content management, this vulnerability could enable attackers to access restricted content, manipulate digital assets, or exfiltrate confidential information. The low privilege requirement means that even users with limited access rights could potentially compromise the security of higher-privileged users who might interact with the compromised form fields.
Organizations should immediately prioritize updating their AEM installations to versions that address this vulnerability, as the stored nature of the flaw means that malicious code could remain active for extended periods without detection. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms, particularly for form fields and user-generated content. Security teams should implement web application firewalls to monitor for suspicious script patterns and conduct regular security assessments of AEM instances. Additionally, privileged users should be educated about the risks of interacting with content from untrusted sources, and organizations should consider implementing content security policies to prevent execution of unauthorized scripts. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper input sanitization practices in enterprise content management systems, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's techniques for credential access and command and control operations. The persistence of stored XSS vulnerabilities also highlights the need for continuous security monitoring and regular vulnerability assessments to identify and remediate similar weaknesses across the digital infrastructure.