CVE-2025-46997 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 versions 6.5.22 and earlier contain a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that represents a significant threat to web application security. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. The flaw exists within the form handling mechanisms of AEM, where user input is not properly sanitized or escaped before being stored and subsequently rendered back to users. Attackers with low privilege access can exploit this weakness by injecting malicious javascript code into form fields that are later displayed to other users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it allows attackers to execute arbitrary code within the context of a victim's browser session, potentially leading to complete compromise of user accounts and sensitive data exposure.
The operational impact of this stored XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, data theft, and privilege escalation attacks. When victims browse to pages containing the maliciously injected content, their browsers execute the embedded javascript code, which can steal cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of the authenticated user. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1531 which covers "Modify System Image" and can be leveraged for post-exploitation activities. The low privilege requirement for exploitation makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by users with minimal access rights, potentially allowing attackers to gain deeper access to the system through social engineering or by targeting less secure user accounts.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires understanding of how AEM processes and renders form data, specifically in the context of stored data within the content management system. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and output encoding practices within the application's data flow, where user-provided content is not adequately filtered or escaped before being stored in the database and later rendered to other users. Security controls such as Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and proper HTML sanitization should have prevented this vulnerability, but the flaw indicates a failure in these protective mechanisms. Organizations utilizing affected AEM versions should immediately implement security patches provided by Adobe, while also conducting thorough security assessments of their content management workflows to identify other potential injection points.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate patching of all affected AEM instances to versions that address the XSS flaw, implementation of robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms, and deployment of web application firewalls to detect and block malicious script injections. Additionally, security teams should establish monitoring procedures to detect anomalous user behavior and content modifications that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of proper input sanitization and output escaping in web applications, particularly in content management systems where user-generated content is prevalent. Organizations should also consider implementing regular security testing and code reviews to identify similar vulnerabilities in their custom applications and third-party integrations that might expose similar attack vectors.