CVE-2025-47048 Overview
CVE-2025-47048 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier, as well as AEM Cloud Service. The flaw allows a low-privileged authenticated attacker to inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable form fields. When a victim browses to a page containing the tainted field, the injected script executes in their browser session. The issue is tracked under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation).
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation enables session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized actions performed in the context of an authenticated AEM user.
Affected Products
- Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.22 and earlier (on-premises)
- Adobe Experience Manager Cloud Service (AEM as a Cloud Service)
- Web applications and authoring workflows that expose vulnerable form field components
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-06-10 - CVE-2025-47048 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-47048
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw in Adobe Experience Manager form components. AEM fails to properly neutralize user-supplied input before persisting it and rendering it back in the page markup. An attacker with low-level authoring or contributor privileges can submit crafted JavaScript payloads into form field attributes or values. The payload is stored server-side and later served to any user who visits the affected page. Because the script executes within the origin of the AEM site, it inherits the trust and permissions of the victim's session.
Root Cause
The root cause is improper output encoding and input sanitization within vulnerable AEM form field components. Content submitted through low-privileged authoring interfaces is stored and later rendered without adequate context-aware escaping. HTML, attribute, and JavaScript contexts each require distinct encoding routines, and the missing controls allow script content to break out of the intended data context.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires network access to the AEM instance, authenticated low-privilege access, and user interaction from a victim who loads the affected page. The scope is changed, meaning the injected script executes in the browser context of any user viewing the content, including higher-privileged administrators. This creates a path for privilege escalation through session token theft or forced administrative actions.
No verified public proof-of-concept exploit code is available for CVE-2025-47048. See the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 for vendor-supplied technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-47048
Indicators of Compromise
- Form field values or component properties in the AEM repository containing <script> tags, javascript: URIs, or DOM event handlers such as onerror, onload, or onmouseover.
- Unexpected outbound HTTP requests from author or publish nodes to attacker-controlled domains following page rendering.
- Content revisions created by low-privileged accounts that modify form fields outside their normal editorial scope.
Detection Strategies
- Audit AEM content repositories (JCR) for stored properties containing HTML tags or JavaScript syntax in fields expected to hold plain text.
- Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting endpoints to capture violations triggered by injected inline scripts.
- Correlate web server access logs with authoring activity to identify sessions that submit anomalous payload sizes or encoded characters into form endpoints.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Monitor /content and /apps JCR paths for writes containing suspicious script markup or attribute-based event handlers.
- Alert on browser errors and CSP violation reports referencing inline script execution on published AEM pages.
- Track authentication and role-assignment events for author accounts, focusing on privilege changes and unusual publishing activity.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-47048
Immediate Actions Required
- Apply the security update referenced in Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 to upgrade AEM beyond version 6.5.22.
- Review and restrict author-tier permissions so that only trusted users can edit form components.
- Scan existing content repositories for previously injected payloads and remove or sanitize affected nodes.
Patch Information
Adobe released fixes for CVE-2025-47048 in the June 2025 AEM security update. Customers running AEM 6.5.x on-premises should install Service Pack 23 or later. AEM as a Cloud Service tenants receive the patch through Adobe's managed release channel. Refer to Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-48 for the authoritative patched version list and installation guidance.
Workarounds
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy on published AEM sites to block inline script execution and untrusted external script sources.
- Deploy a web application firewall rule set to inspect and reject form submissions containing HTML or JavaScript markup in fields that expect plain text.
- Disable or restrict access to vulnerable form field components until the patch is applied, and require peer review for content changes made by low-privileged authors.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
