CVE-2025-47020
📋 TL;DR
A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager allows low-privileged attackers to inject malicious scripts into form fields, which execute in victims' browsers when they view the affected pages. This affects versions 6.5.22 and earlier, potentially compromising user sessions and data.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Experience Manager
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users, leading to data breaches or account takeover.
Likely Case
Low-privileged attackers inject scripts to hijack user sessions or deface web pages, impacting confidentiality and integrity for users accessing the vulnerable forms.
If Mitigated
With input validation and output encoding controls, the risk is reduced to minimal, preventing script execution even if injection occurs.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires low-privileged access to inject scripts; no public proof-of-concept is known, but XSS vulnerabilities are commonly exploited.
🛠️ 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. Backup your AEM instance. 2. Download and apply the patch from Adobe's security update page. 3. Restart the AEM service to apply changes. 4. Verify the update by checking the version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation and Sanitization
allImplement server-side input validation and output encoding for all form fields to block malicious script injection.
Configure AEM's XSS protection filters and custom validation rules as per Adobe documentation.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict access to vulnerable form fields using role-based access controls to limit low-privileged users.
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules to block malicious payloads.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the AEM version via the admin console or system information; if it is 6.5.22 or earlier, it is vulnerable.Check Version:
In AEM, navigate to 'Tools' > 'Operations' > 'Web Console' and search for 'Adobe Experience Manager' to view the version.Verify Fix Applied:
After patching, confirm the version is 6.5.23 or later and test form fields for XSS by attempting to inject scripts in a controlled environment.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to form fields with script-like payloads in access logs.
- Errors or alerts from security filters related to XSS attempts.
Network Indicators:
- HTTP traffic containing JavaScript payloads in form submissions.
- Unexpected redirects or cookie theft patterns in network monitoring.
SIEM Query:
source="aem_logs" AND (message LIKE "%<script>%" OR message LIKE "%javascript:%")