CVE-2025-46876: Adobe Experience Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46876 Overview

CVE-2025-46876 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability [CWE-79] affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier, including AEM Cloud Service. A low-privileged authenticated attacker can inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable form fields. The injected script executes in a victim's browser when they load the affected page, enabling session token theft, forced actions, or content manipulation within the AEM context.

Critical Impact
Stored XSS in AEM form fields allows an authenticated attacker to persist JavaScript that executes in other users' browsers, potentially compromising editor sessions and content integrity.

Affected Products

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.22 and earlier (on-premise)
Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEM CS)
Adobe Experience Manager Forms components with vulnerable field rendering

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-46876 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2025-06-10 - Adobe publishes security bulletin APSB25-48
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46876

Vulnerability Analysis

The flaw is a stored XSS defect in Adobe Experience Manager form field handling. An attacker with authoring or contributor-level access submits crafted input containing JavaScript payloads into fields that AEM later renders without sufficient output encoding. The payload persists in the underlying JCR repository and executes each time a victim renders the affected page.

Because the scope is changed (S:C in the CVSS vector), executed script can act beyond the vulnerable component, reaching other AEM sessions such as an editor loading the same form in Author mode. User interaction is required, since the victim must browse to the page hosting the injected field.

The issue is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation. Confidentiality and integrity impacts are limited but non-trivial in publishing workflows where authenticated authors have elevated content rights.

Root Cause

AEM fails to properly neutralize user-supplied input written to form field attributes or content before serializing the field into rendered HTML. The template layer trusts stored values, so any script content saved into the field is echoed back verbatim to viewers.

Attack Vector

The attacker authenticates to AEM with low privileges, edits a page or form component, and stores a JavaScript payload in a susceptible field. When any user, including higher-privileged administrators, subsequently loads the page, the browser parses and executes the stored script under the AEM origin. Refer to Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 for vendor-confirmed technical scope.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46876

Indicators of Compromise

Form field values in the JCR repository containing <script>, javascript:, or event-handler attributes such as onerror= and onload=.
Unexpected outbound requests from author or publish instances to attacker-controlled domains referenced in stored content.
Editor sessions producing anomalous API calls to /bin/, /libs/, or /apps/ endpoints without corresponding user actions.
Modifications to page components by low-privileged accounts outside normal working hours.

Detection Strategies

Query the JCR for properties whose string values match XSS payload signatures using QueryBuilder or JCR-SQL2 against cq:PageContent nodes.
Enable Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting in AEM Dispatcher to surface script execution attempts from untrusted sources.
Correlate author-instance HTTP POST activity with subsequent publish-instance page hits generating client-side errors or CSP violations.

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest AEM request.log, error.log, and Dispatcher access logs into a SIEM for continuous review of authoring endpoints.
Alert on repeated saves to page or form components by non-administrator accounts.
Monitor for browser telemetry indicating script execution from unexpected inline sources on AEM-rendered pages.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46876

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade AEM on-premise deployments to the versions listed in Adobe bulletin APSB25-48; AEM as a Cloud Service customers receive the fix automatically.
Audit author and contributor accounts, disabling unused credentials and enforcing least-privilege permissions on form-editing components.
Review recent content changes on affected pages and remove any injected script payloads from the JCR.

Patch Information

Adobe addressed CVE-2025-46876 in the AEM 6.5 Service Pack referenced in APSB25-48 and in the corresponding AEM as a Cloud Service release. Apply the vendor-supplied service pack or cumulative fix pack, then restart the author and publish instances. Validate the upgrade by confirming the AEM version reported in the Web Console matches the patched build.

Workarounds

Restrict authoring access to trusted users only until the patch is applied.
Deploy a strict Content Security Policy at the Dispatcher tier to block inline script execution on public-facing pages.
Enable AEM XSS protection APIs (XSSAPI.encodeForHTML, XSSAPI.encodeForHTMLAttr) in custom components rendering user-controlled form data.
Configure Dispatcher filters to reject requests containing script-like payloads targeting form submission endpoints.

bash

# Example Dispatcher filter tightening form POST paths
/0100 { /type "deny" /url "*<script*" }
/0101 { /type "deny" /url "*javascript:*" }
/0102 { /type "allow" /method "POST" /url "/content/forms/*" }