CVE-2025-47041 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 digital experience platform that serves as a cornerstone for enterprise content management and digital marketing operations. The platform's architecture includes numerous form-based interfaces and content editing capabilities that enable users to create and manage web content through intuitive web forms. These forms typically support rich text editing and content insertion features that allow administrators and content creators to build dynamic web pages with embedded multimedia elements and interactive components. The vulnerability in question affects the core form processing mechanisms within the AEM framework, specifically targeting how user input is handled and rendered within the platform's content management interface.
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in the form field processing logic where user-supplied input containing malicious javascript code is not properly sanitized or encoded before being stored in the system's database. This flaw occurs at the input validation stage where the application fails to adequately filter or escape special characters that could be interpreted as executable script code. When a low-privileged attacker submits malicious content through a vulnerable form field, the system stores this tainted data without proper sanitization, creating a persistent threat vector. The vulnerability is classified as a stored XSS because the malicious payload remains in the system's database and is executed whenever any user accesses the page containing the compromised form field, regardless of whether they are authenticated or not.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it enables attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities within the context of the victim's browser session. An attacker could potentially steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious websites, deface web pages, or even execute more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting or privilege escalation within the AEM environment. The low privilege requirement makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by users with minimal access rights, potentially allowing them to escalate their privileges or gain unauthorized access to sensitive content and system functions. This threat vector aligns with attack patterns documented in the attack tree framework where initial access through seemingly innocuous form submissions can lead to more significant compromise of the entire digital experience platform.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms that sanitize all user-supplied content before storage and rendering. The implementation should follow established security standards such as those defined in the CWE-79 category for cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and align with NIST guidelines for web application security. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies that restrict script execution and monitor for suspicious form submissions. Additionally, regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the AEM platform, as the presence of one XSS vulnerability often indicates potential weaknesses in the overall application security posture. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization and output encoding practices as outlined in the OWASP top ten security risks, particularly in content management systems where user-generated content is prevalent and must be carefully controlled to maintain system integrity and user security.