CVE-2025-64553
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.23 and earlier contain a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows low-privileged attackers to inject malicious scripts into form fields. When users visit pages containing these compromised fields, their browsers execute the attacker's JavaScript, potentially leading to session hijacking or data theft.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Experience Manager
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator credentials, hijack user sessions, deface websites, or redirect users to malicious sites, potentially leading to full system compromise if combined with other vulnerabilities.
Likely Case
Low-privileged attackers inject malicious scripts to steal session cookies or credentials from users who access the compromised pages, enabling account takeover or data exfiltration.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, the vulnerability would be prevented, though the underlying code flaw remains until patched.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires low-privileged attacker access. Stored XSS vulnerabilities are commonly exploited once discovered.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.5.24 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb25-115.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.24 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 and Output Encoding
allImplement strict input validation and proper output encoding for all user-controllable form fields to prevent script injection.
Content Security Policy (CSP)
allImplement a strict Content Security Policy header to mitigate XSS impact by restricting script execution sources.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict low-privileged user access to form submission functionality
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS payloads
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check AEM version via the Welcome screen or OSGi console. If version is 6.5.23 or earlier, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
curl -k https://<aem-host>:<port>/system/console/version or check AEM Welcome pageVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify the version is 6.5.24 or later and test form fields for XSS by attempting to inject basic script payloads.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual form submissions with script tags or JavaScript code
- Multiple failed XSS attempts in web server logs
- Suspicious user agent strings containing script payloads
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing <script> tags or JavaScript in form parameters
- Unusual outbound connections from user browsers after visiting AEM pages
SIEM Query:
source="aem-access.log" AND ("<script>" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=" OR "onload=")