CVE-2025-46995 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 • 06/16/2025
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. This particular vulnerability affects versions 6.5.22 and earlier, which encompasses a significant portion of the installed base. The affected system components include form processing mechanisms and user input validation routines that handle data submitted through various web forms within the AEM interface. These forms are commonly used for user registration, feedback collection, content submission, and administrative functions. The vulnerability exists within the input sanitization and output encoding processes that are responsible for preventing malicious code injection into the platform's user interface elements.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data within form fields that are subsequently rendered in web pages without proper sanitization. When a low-privileged attacker submits malicious JavaScript code through a vulnerable form field, the payload gets stored within the application's database or content repository. This stored data is then retrieved and displayed in subsequent page renders without adequate encoding or filtering. The vulnerability specifically targets the rendering pipeline where form data is processed and presented to other users who access the affected pages. The flaw allows attackers to bypass standard security controls that would normally prevent script execution in web contexts. This particular weakness enables attackers to inject scripts that can execute in the context of other users' browsers, potentially capturing session cookies, redirecting users to malicious sites, or performing actions on behalf of the victim. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users interact with shared content management systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable more sophisticated attacks within the AEM environment. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access points through session hijacking, data exfiltration, or privilege escalation attempts. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that malicious payloads can affect multiple users over extended periods, potentially compromising sensitive content management operations. In enterprise environments where AEM serves as the primary content management platform for customer-facing websites, internal collaboration portals, and marketing materials, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to confidential information. The attack surface includes all user-facing forms within the AEM system, making it a high-value target for threat actors. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in application input handling. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential access through spearphishing attachments and T1071.001 for application layer protocol usage. The impact is particularly severe in environments where AEM is used for managing sensitive customer data, internal communications, or regulatory compliance content.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches from Adobe as soon as they become available, which typically address the input validation and output encoding issues. Network segmentation and access controls should be reinforced to limit exposure of vulnerable form fields to untrusted users. Input validation should be enhanced at multiple layers including client-side, server-side, and database-level sanitization. Content security policies should be implemented to prevent script execution in vulnerable contexts, using mechanisms such as Content Security Policy headers and strict output encoding. Regular security assessments of form processing components should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in custom extensions or third-party integrations. Monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in form submissions or user behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization and output encoding in web applications, particularly those handling user-generated content. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads attempting to exploit this type of vulnerability, while maintaining comprehensive logging and audit trails for forensic analysis.