CVE-2025-46931: Adobe Experience Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46931 Overview

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier contain a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-46931. A low-privileged attacker can inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable form fields. The payload executes in a victim's browser when they load the page containing the injected content. The flaw maps to [CWE-79] Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation. Adobe published the fix in security bulletin APSB25-48.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with low privileges can persist JavaScript payloads that execute in other users' browsers, enabling session data theft and unauthorized actions within the AEM authoring context.

Affected Products

Adobe Experience Manager (on-premise) versions 6.5.22 and earlier
Adobe Experience Manager AEM Cloud Service (affected release trains)
Adobe Experience Manager Forms component (vulnerable form fields)

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-46931 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46931

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-46931 is a stored XSS flaw in Adobe Experience Manager. The affected code paths accept form field input from authenticated users without properly neutralizing HTML and JavaScript characters. The unsanitized content persists in the AEM content repository. When another user renders the page containing the injected field, the browser interprets the attacker-supplied markup as active script. The attack executes in the context of the victim's session, inheriting their AEM privileges.

Exploitation requires a valid AEM account with permission to submit or edit form field content. Successful delivery also requires user interaction, as the victim must browse to the affected page. The scope change indicates that impact crosses the initial security boundary, reaching other users beyond the attacker's own session.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient output encoding on form field values rendered back into HTML pages. AEM stores the raw input in the JCR content repository and later injects it into server-generated HTML without contextual escaping. Any script tags, event handlers, or JavaScript URIs supplied by the attacker survive round-trip storage and execute at render time.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based against the AEM authoring or publish tier. An authenticated low-privileged user submits a crafted payload into a vulnerable form field. The payload is stored in the repository. When an administrator, editor, or site visitor loads the containing page, the browser executes the malicious script. Attackers commonly use this class of flaw to steal authentication cookies, perform cross-site request forgery against authoring APIs, or pivot to higher-privileged accounts.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 for vendor-supplied technical detail.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46931

Indicators of Compromise

Form field values in the JCR containing <script> tags, on* event handlers, or javascript: URIs
Unexpected outbound requests from authenticated AEM sessions to attacker-controlled domains
AEM access logs showing repeated POSTs to form submission endpoints from low-privileged accounts followed by administrator page loads
Anomalous cookie or token exfiltration traffic sourced from authoring or publish nodes

Detection Strategies

Scan the JCR repository for stored content matching HTML or JavaScript syntax within form field properties
Correlate low-privileged user submissions with subsequent page renders by higher-privileged accounts
Deploy web application firewall rules that flag script-like payloads on AEM form submission endpoints
Review audit logs for unusual modifications to cq:Page, nt:unstructured, or form-related nodes

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable AEM audit logging on content creation and modification events for form components
Forward AEM dispatcher and access logs to a centralized analytics platform for query and retention
Alert on Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports originating from AEM-hosted pages
Monitor administrator sessions for unexpected script-initiated API calls to /libs/, /bin/, or /content/ paths

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46931

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the Adobe security update referenced in bulletin APSB25-48 to all AEM 6.5.x instances
Upgrade AEM Cloud Service tenants to the current release train that includes the fix
Audit existing form field content for previously injected payloads and remove malicious entries
Rotate session tokens and credentials for accounts that accessed potentially compromised pages

Patch Information

Adobe released fixed builds documented in the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48. Upgrade AEM 6.5 to version 6.5.23 or later, and ensure AEM Cloud Service instances are on the corresponding patched release. Validate the deployment by confirming the service pack version in the AEM Web Console after installation.

Workarounds

Restrict form field authoring permissions to trusted user groups until patches are applied
Deploy a strict Content Security Policy that blocks inline scripts and unauthorized script sources
Configure the AEM dispatcher to filter suspicious characters on submission endpoints
Enable HttpOnly and Secure attributes on session cookies to limit theft impact from executed scripts

bash

# Configuration example: verify installed AEM service pack version
curl -u admin:<password> \
  "https://aem.example.com/system/console/status-productinfo.txt" \
  | grep -i "Adobe Experience Manager"