CVE-2025-46882: Adobe Experience Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46882 Overview

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier contain a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability [CWE-79]. A low-privileged attacker can inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable form fields. The payload executes in a victim's browser when they view the page containing the affected field. The flaw impacts both on-premises AEM and AEM Cloud Service deployments. Adobe addressed the issue in security bulletin APSB25-48.

Critical Impact
Stored XSS allows session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized actions in the context of any user rendering the compromised page.

Affected Products

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.22 and earlier (on-premises)
Adobe Experience Manager Cloud Service (AEM as a Cloud Service)
AEM Forms components exposing user-editable form fields

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-46882 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2025-06-10 - Adobe releases security bulletin APSB25-48 with patched builds
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46882

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a stored Cross-Site Scripting flaw classified under [CWE-79], Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation. An authenticated attacker with low privileges submits crafted input into a form field that AEM persists without adequate output encoding. When another user renders the page containing that field, the browser executes the attacker-controlled JavaScript.

Exploitation requires user interaction, since a victim must load the affected page. The scope is changed, meaning the injected script can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component's security boundary, such as parent frames or authenticated administrative sessions.

Root Cause

AEM fails to consistently sanitize or encode data written to and later read from certain form field storage locations. Content authored through vulnerable inputs is rendered back into HTML context without contextual escaping. This allows <script> tags or event handler attributes supplied by the attacker to execute in the browser DOM.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires authenticated access with author or contributor-level permissions. The attacker submits a payload into a susceptible form field, typically through AEM's authoring interface or a public-facing form that persists data. When a privileged user, such as an administrator reviewing submissions, opens the affected page, the stored script executes with that user's session context. See the Adobe Security Update APSB25-48 for component-specific technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46882

Indicators of Compromise

Stored content containing <script>, javascript: URIs, or on* event handler attributes in AEM form field values
Unexpected outbound requests from authenticated author sessions to attacker-controlled domains
Anomalous DOM modifications or session token access recorded in browser telemetry for AEM users
Author accounts submitting content with encoded payloads such as <script> sequences

Detection Strategies

Audit AEM content repositories (/content and JCR nodes) for stored HTML tags or JavaScript in fields that should contain only text
Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting to identify inline script violations originating from AEM-rendered pages
Review AEM access logs for suspicious POST requests to form submission endpoints from low-privileged accounts
Enable web application firewall rules that flag XSS patterns in requests targeting AEM authoring paths

Monitoring Recommendations

Correlate authenticated session activity with unusual JavaScript execution reported by browser endpoint agents
Alert on newly created or modified content nodes containing script markup, especially by non-administrative accounts
Monitor for privilege escalation attempts or session token exfiltration following content publication events

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46882

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Adobe Experience Manager to the fixed release identified in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-48
Verify AEM as a Cloud Service instances are running the current service release
Review and revoke unnecessary author or contributor privileges to reduce the exploitable user population
Audit existing form field content for previously injected payloads and remove malicious entries

Patch Information

Adobe published fixed versions in security bulletin APSB25-48 on June 10, 2025. Customers on AEM 6.5 must install Service Pack 23 or later. AEM as a Cloud Service customers receive the fix through the standard release channel. Consult the Adobe Security Update APSB25-48 for exact build numbers and download instructions.

Workarounds

Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources on AEM-rendered pages
Apply input validation and output encoding rules at the dispatcher or reverse proxy layer for known form endpoints
Restrict author-level access to trusted users only until patching is complete
Deploy a web application firewall signature that blocks common stored XSS payload patterns targeting AEM form submissions

bash

# Example Apache Dispatcher CSP header enforcement for AEM
Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'; report-uri /csp-report"
Header always set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"