CVE-2026-75696 in Experience Manager
Summary
by MITRE • 09/08/2026
Adobe Experience Manager is affected by a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. An attacker could exploit this issue by manipulating the DOM environment to execute malicious JavaScript within the context of the victim's browser. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must visit a crafted webpage. Scope is changed.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/09/2026
Adobe Experience Manager contains a critical client-side security flaw classified as a Document Object Model-based Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability, which fundamentally alters the traditional scope of exploitation by shifting focus from server-side injection to browser environment manipulation. This specific type of XSS occurs when an application processes user-supplied data in a way that allows malicious scripts to be injected into the DOM tree without proper sanitization or validation. Unlike reflected or stored XSS variants where payloads are often embedded directly within HTTP requests or database entries, this vulnerability relies on the dynamic modification of the web page structure by client-side JavaScript code that fails to adequately escape special characters or validate input sources before rendering them in a potentially executable context.
The technical mechanism behind this flaw involves the application's failure to properly handle data retrieved from various DOM properties such as location hashes, query strings, or form inputs when they are subsequently used in methods like innerHTML, document.write, or eval. When an attacker crafts a malicious webpage designed to exploit this weakness, they can inject JavaScript code that interacts with Adobe Experience Manager components running within the victim's browser session. Because the vulnerability is DOM-based, the payload does not necessarily need to be sent back to the server for processing; instead, it executes entirely on the client side after being parsed by the browser engine, making detection via traditional web application firewalls more challenging as the malicious activity occurs locally in the user agent environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant because successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the security context of the Adobe Experience Manager domain. This capability enables a range of destructive actions including session hijacking, where the attacker steals authentication cookies or tokens to impersonate legitimate users; keylogging, which captures sensitive input such as passwords and credit card numbers entered by the victim; and defacement of the application interface to mislead users into performing unintended actions. Furthermore, because Adobe Experience Manager is often used for managing enterprise content and digital assets, compromising user sessions can lead to unauthorized access to confidential business documents, intellectual property theft, or further lateral movement within an organization's network if session tokens are reused across other internal services.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-79, which describes Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation commonly known as Cross-site Scripting, and specifically relates to the DOM-based variant where input is processed by client-side scripts rather than server-side code. In terms of offensive security frameworks, this exploit maps directly to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059.007, which covers JavaScript execution on the client side, often utilized in phishing campaigns or drive-by download scenarios to establish persistence or exfiltrate data from compromised workstations. The requirement for user interaction indicates that while automated scanning tools may not easily detect this flaw without active exploitation attempts, it remains a high-risk issue due to its potential for social engineering integration where victims are tricked into visiting the crafted webpage through deceptive links in emails or malicious advertisements.
Mitigation strategies must focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms within both the Adobe Experience Manager configuration and any custom code developed by administrators. Developers should ensure that all data derived from DOM sources is strictly validated against a whitelist of expected formats before being used in dynamic content generation. Utilizing Content Security Policy headers can significantly reduce the impact of such vulnerabilities by restricting the domains from which scripts are allowed to load, thereby preventing the execution of injected malicious code even if it manages to enter the DOM. Additionally, enabling built-in security features provided by Adobe Experience Manager and keeping the software updated to the latest version is essential as vendors frequently release patches that address these client-side parsing errors through improved sanitization libraries or framework updates that automatically escape special characters during rendering processes.