CVE-2025-46993 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 07/24/2025
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 • 07/24/2025
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 creating, managing, and delivering digital content across multiple channels. Given its critical role in enterprise digital infrastructure, vulnerabilities within AEM can pose significant risks to organizational security postures. The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.22 and earlier demonstrates a fundamental flaw in input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the platform's form handling components. This particular vulnerability resides in the way the system processes and renders user-supplied data within form fields, creating an avenue for persistent malicious script injection.
The technical flaw manifests when user input containing malicious javascript code is stored within AEM's form fields without proper sanitization or encoding. When subsequent users navigate to pages containing these vulnerable fields, the stored scripts execute within their browser context, creating a persistent XSS attack vector. This vulnerability specifically affects the rendering engine's handling of form data, where input validation occurs at the wrong stage in the data processing pipeline. The flaw operates as a classic stored XSS vulnerability, where malicious payloads are permanently stored on the server and executed each time the affected content is accessed. According to CWE-79, this vulnerability maps directly to the Common Weakness Enumeration's definition of Cross-Site Scripting, where applications fail to properly escape output and allow malicious scripts to be executed in user browsers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities. Low privileged attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, inject phishing content, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that the attack vector remains active until the vulnerable data is removed or the system is patched, creating an ongoing security risk. Attackers can craft sophisticated payloads that exploit browser vulnerabilities, bypass security controls, or establish persistent access points within the organization's digital ecosystem. This vulnerability particularly impacts organizations using AEM for customer-facing applications, employee portals, or any system where user input is processed and stored.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through the application of Adobe's official security patches, which address the input validation and output encoding deficiencies. Network segmentation and web application firewalls can provide additional defensive layers, though these measures are not substitutes for proper patch management. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of affected AEM installations, particularly focusing on systems handling user-generated content. The mitigation strategy should include regular input validation reviews, enhanced output encoding mechanisms, and implementation of content security policies. According to ATT&CK framework's T1531 technique, this vulnerability could be leveraged for privilege escalation and lateral movement within compromised environments, making proactive remediation essential for maintaining organizational security integrity.