CVE-2025-46975: Adobe Experience Manager XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46975 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 affected field, the script executes in their browser context.

The issue affects both on-premise AEM deployments and AEM Cloud Service. Exploitation requires user interaction and low-level authenticated access, but the scope is changed, meaning the injected script can impact resources beyond the initially vulnerable component.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers can execute arbitrary JavaScript in victim browsers, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized actions within the AEM administrative interface.

Affected Products

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.22 and earlier (on-premise)
Adobe Experience Manager Cloud Service
Any AEM instance exposing vulnerable form field components

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-46975 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-46975

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw in Adobe Experience Manager form field handling. AEM fails to properly sanitize or encode user-supplied input written to form field attributes or values before rendering them in the page context.

Because the payload is stored server-side, every subsequent visitor to the affected page receives the malicious script. The scope change indicated in the CVSS vector reflects that injected script executes with the privileges of the viewing user, which may exceed those of the attacker who planted it.

Exploitation requires only low privileges, such as an author or content contributor role, making this practical in multi-tenant editorial environments. The attacker must convince a higher-privileged user, such as an administrator, to view the affected page for maximum impact.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of input during web page generation [CWE-79]. AEM's form field components accept attacker-controlled strings and render them into the HTML output without adequate context-aware output encoding.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker with content authoring rights submits a crafted payload containing JavaScript into a form field. The payload persists in the AEM repository. When any user, including higher-privileged administrators, navigates to the page containing that field, the browser parses and executes the injected script.

The vulnerability manifests in AEM form field rendering. See the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-48 for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-46975

Indicators of Compromise

Form field values containing HTML tags such as <script>, <img onerror=, or <svg onload= stored in the AEM JCR repository
Unexpected outbound HTTP requests originating from AEM author or publish instance browser sessions
Anomalous session token or cookie exfiltration in web proxy logs from administrator workstations accessing AEM
Author accounts modifying form components outside of expected content workflows

Detection Strategies

Query the JCR repository for form field properties containing suspicious HTML or JavaScript syntax
Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting to identify inline script execution attempts on AEM-rendered pages
Review AEM audit logs for form component modifications by low-privileged authors
Correlate browser telemetry from administrator endpoints with AEM page access events

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on AEM Dispatcher and author instances for content modification events
Forward AEM access and audit logs to a centralized SIEM for correlation with endpoint telemetry
Monitor for outbound connections from browsers on hosts that recently rendered AEM administrative pages
Alert on any script tag or event handler attribute appearing in form field properties during content sync

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-46975

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the Adobe security update referenced in APSB25-48 to all AEM instances
Audit existing form field content for previously injected payloads and remove them from the JCR repository
Review and restrict content authoring permissions to trusted users only
Rotate administrator session tokens and credentials if compromise is suspected

Patch Information

Adobe released fixes in Security Bulletin APSB25-48. On-premise customers should upgrade beyond AEM 6.5.22. AEM as a Cloud Service customers receive the fix through Adobe's managed update process. Refer to the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-48 for exact version guidance.

Workarounds

Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources on AEM-rendered pages
Restrict access to the AEM author instance to trusted networks using IP allowlisting or VPN
Reduce the number of accounts with content authoring privileges until patching completes
Implement web application firewall rules to filter HTML and JavaScript in form field submissions

bash

# Example Dispatcher configuration snippet to add CSP header
# Consult Adobe documentation before deploying to production
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'"
    Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
    Header always set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
</IfModule>