CVE-2025-46848
📋 TL;DR
This stored Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager allows low-privileged attackers to inject malicious JavaScript into form fields. When users visit pages containing the compromised fields, their browsers execute the attacker's code. Organizations running Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.22 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Experience Manager
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator session cookies, perform actions as authenticated users, redirect users to malicious sites, or deploy ransomware through the compromised AEM instance.
Likely Case
Attackers with low privileges steal session cookies from other users, escalate privileges, deface websites, or redirect users to phishing pages.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, the attack surface is reduced, but the vulnerability still exists in the underlying code.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires authenticated low-privileged access. Exploitation involves injecting JavaScript into vulnerable form fields that persists in the system.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.5.23 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb25-48.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.23 or later from Adobe's distribution portal. 2. Apply the service pack following Adobe's upgrade documentation. 3. Restart the AEM instance. 4. Verify the update was successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Filter
allImplement custom servlet filters to sanitize user input in form fields
Implement Java servlet filter with OWASP Java Encoder library for input sanitization
Content Security Policy
allImplement strict CSP headers to limit script execution
Add Content-Security-Policy header to dispatcher configuration
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict low-privileged user access to content authoring and form submission capabilities
- Implement web application firewall rules to block XSS payload patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check AEM version via CRXDE Lite or system console. If version is 6.5.22 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
curl -u admin:password http://localhost:4502/system/console/status-productinfo | grep 'Adobe Experience Manager'Verify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify version is 6.5.23 or later and test form fields with XSS payloads to confirm sanitization.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual form submissions with script tags
- Multiple failed XSS attempts in request logs
- Suspicious content authoring activities from low-privileged users
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing script injection patterns to AEM author/publish instances
- Unusual outbound connections from AEM servers after form submissions
SIEM Query:
source="aem_logs" AND ("<script>" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=" OR "onload=") AND status=200