CVE-2025-46908: Adobe Experience Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46908 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. When a victim browses to a page containing the injected field, the payload executes in the victim's browser context.

The flaw affects both on-premises AEM 6.5.x deployments and AEM Cloud Service. Exploitation requires user interaction and low-level authenticated access. Successful attacks can compromise session integrity and expose limited confidential data within the browser session.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can persist JavaScript payloads in AEM form fields, enabling session-scoped script execution against any user who loads the affected page.

Affected Products

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.22 and earlier (on-premises)
Adobe Experience Manager Cloud Service (affected releases prior to fix)
AEM Forms components rendering user-controlled field content

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-46908 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46908

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw in Adobe Experience Manager form field handling. An authenticated user with low privileges submits crafted input containing JavaScript. AEM persists the input without adequate output encoding or sanitization.

When another user later renders the page that displays the stored field, the browser interprets the injected markup as executable script. Because the payload is stored server-side, exploitation does not require the attacker to interact with the victim beyond luring them to a legitimate AEM URL. The scope change in the attack chain indicates the payload executes in a security context beyond the vulnerable component itself.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of input during web page generation [CWE-79]. AEM form field processing accepts HTML and script content from privileged authoring or form-submission workflows without applying context-appropriate encoding before rendering. This allows persistent script payloads to survive storage and reach downstream viewers.

Attack Vector

The attack is remote and authenticated. An attacker with low-privileged AEM access submits crafted content to a vulnerable form field. The malicious content is stored in the AEM repository. Any user, including higher-privileged administrators, who navigates to the affected page triggers script execution in their browser.

Exploitation over the network requires user interaction to load the affected content. No verified public proof-of-concept is available at this time. Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 for vendor-specific technical guidance.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46908

Indicators of Compromise

Form field values or JCR node properties containing <script>, javascript:, onerror=, or onload= attributes
Unexpected outbound requests from AEM author or publish instances to attacker-controlled domains after page renders
New or modified nodes under form component paths authored by low-privileged accounts

Detection Strategies

Scan the AEM JCR repository for stored HTML entities and script tags in form component properties
Review AEM access logs for POST requests from low-privileged users to form submission endpoints followed by GET traffic from other sessions
Inspect Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for inline script executions on form-rendering pages

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable and centralize AEM audit logs covering content authoring and form submissions
Alert on repository writes containing script-like patterns from non-administrative principals
Monitor browser-side telemetry for anomalous script execution on AEM-hosted URLs

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46908

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the Adobe security update referenced in Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48
Audit accounts holding low-privileged authoring or form-submission rights and remove unused access
Search the JCR repository for existing malicious payloads in form field properties and remediate any findings

Patch Information

Adobe released fixes covering AEM 6.5.22 and AEM Cloud Service. Administrators should upgrade to the version identified in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-48. Cloud Service customers receive the fix through the standard release channel; on-premises operators must install the applicable service pack.

Workarounds

Enforce a strict Content Security Policy on AEM-hosted pages to block inline script execution
Restrict low-privileged account access to components that render user-supplied HTML until the patch is applied
Apply web application firewall (WAF) rules that inspect form submissions for script tags and event-handler attributes

bash

# Example Content Security Policy header for AEM dispatcher
# Add to dispatcher or web server configuration
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'"