CVE-2025-47036 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 presents a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions 6.5.22 and earlier, where malicious actors with low privilege access can inject persistent javascript code into form fields that subsequently execute in victims' browsers when they view the compromised content. This vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user input within form elements, creating a persistent threat vector that allows attackers to establish footholds within the target environment. The flaw enables attackers to bypass standard security controls by leveraging the application's trust in user-provided data, which is then rendered without adequate sanitization or encoding mechanisms. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that malicious payloads remain active even after the initial injection, creating long-term exposure for all users who access the affected pages. This weakness directly maps to CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as weaknesses in input validation and output encoding, specifically addressing the failure to properly encode data before rendering it in web contexts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001, which describes the use of malicious content in web applications to establish initial access points. The attack surface extends to all user-facing forms within AEM that accept and display user input, particularly affecting content management workflows where editors and contributors submit data through web forms. The impact of this vulnerability can range from session hijacking and credential theft to more sophisticated attacks such as privilege escalation or data exfiltration, depending on the attacker's objectives and the victim's access levels. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal privileges, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by users with basic access rights to compromise the entire application ecosystem. Organizations using affected AEM versions face significant risk of unauthorized access and data breaches, as the stored XSS allows attackers to maintain persistent access to compromised systems. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental flaw in the application's security architecture, specifically in how it processes and renders user-generated content without proper contextual output encoding. This weakness creates a persistent threat that can be exploited across multiple sessions and user interactions, making it a high-priority target for threat actors seeking long-term access to sensitive enterprise environments. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the widespread use of Adobe Experience Manager in enterprise content management, where the compromise of a single form field can potentially affect thousands of users and thousands of pages. Attackers can craft malicious payloads that appear legitimate to end users, making the attack more difficult to detect and mitigate. The vulnerability's persistence means that even after initial exploitation, malicious scripts continue to execute for any user who accesses the affected content, creating ongoing exposure that can be difficult to track and remediate. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems to prevent exploitation, while also implementing additional security controls such as content security policies and input validation to reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper output encoding and input validation in web applications, particularly in content management systems where user-generated content is frequently processed and displayed. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious script injections to detect potential exploitation attempts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate sanitization of form field inputs within Adobe Experience Manager's content rendering engine. When user data is submitted through web forms, the application fails to properly encode or validate the content before storing and displaying it, creating an environment where malicious javascript can persist and execute. This flaw specifically affects the application's handling of HTML content within form fields, where the stored data is rendered without appropriate contextual escaping or sanitization. The vulnerability exists across multiple form types within the AEM interface, including content authoring forms, user registration forms, and comment submission fields. Attackers can exploit this by submitting malicious payloads that include javascript code within form fields, which then executes whenever the content is viewed by other users. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious code remains embedded in the database or content repository, allowing it to persist across application restarts and user sessions. This persistence characteristic makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can remain active for extended periods without detection. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal technical skill, as attackers can leverage common XSS payload patterns that are readily available in security toolkits and online resources. The attack vector is typically initiated through web forms that accept user input, where the malicious script is embedded within the content submitted by the attacker. Once the malicious content is stored, any user who accesses the page containing the vulnerable form field becomes a potential victim of the XSS attack. The vulnerability's impact is not limited to simple script execution but can enable more sophisticated attacks including cookie theft, session manipulation, and redirection to malicious websites. The security implications extend beyond individual user compromise to potential system-wide impact, as successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation or data exfiltration from the AEM environment. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring and logging of form submissions to detect potential exploitation attempts, while also ensuring that all user input is properly validated and sanitized before being stored or rendered. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper security architecture in content management systems where user-generated content must be carefully handled to prevent malicious code injection.