CVE-2025-54254: Adobe Experience Manager Forms XXE Flaw

CVE-2025-54254 Overview

Adobe Experience Manager Forms versions 6.5.23 and earlier are affected by an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE) vulnerability (CWE-611) that could lead to arbitrary file system read. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive files on the local file system with a changed scope, meaning the impact extends beyond the vulnerable component. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in internet-facing deployments.

Critical Impact

This XXE vulnerability enables unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files from the server's file system, potentially exposing sensitive configuration files, credentials, and other confidential data without any user interaction required.

Affected Products

• Adobe Experience Manager Forms versions 6.5.23 and earlier
• Adobe Experience Manager Forms (all editions prior to patched release)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-08-05 - CVE-2025-54254 published to NVD
• 2025-10-02 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-54254

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from improper handling of XML input in Adobe Experience Manager Forms. When the application processes XML data, it fails to properly restrict or disable external entity references, allowing attackers to craft malicious XML payloads that reference external resources. The scope change indicates that the vulnerability in AEM Forms can impact resources beyond its own security boundary, potentially affecting the underlying operating system or other applications on the same server.

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction, significantly lowering the barrier for exploitation. The primary impact is confidentiality, as attackers can exfiltrate sensitive files from the server's file system.

Root Cause

The root cause is an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (CWE-611). The XML parser used by Adobe Experience Manager Forms is configured to process external entity declarations without proper restrictions. When parsing untrusted XML input, the application resolves external entities, allowing attackers to access local files, perform server-side request forgery (SSRF), or potentially cause denial of service conditions.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can submit specially crafted XML content containing external entity declarations to vulnerable AEM Forms endpoints. The malicious XML payload instructs the parser to fetch and include the contents of local files (such as /etc/passwd, configuration files, or application secrets) in the response or error messages returned to the attacker.

A typical XXE attack against this vulnerability would involve:

1. Identifying an endpoint in AEM Forms that accepts XML input
2. Crafting an XML document with a DOCTYPE declaration defining an external entity pointing to a sensitive file
3. Submitting the malicious XML to the vulnerable endpoint
4. Extracting the file contents from the application's response

For technical details on XXE attack patterns and this specific vulnerability, refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-82.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-54254

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual XML parsing errors in AEM Forms application logs referencing external entities or file paths
• HTTP requests to AEM Forms endpoints containing DOCTYPE declarations with ENTITY definitions
• Unexpected file access attempts from the AEM Forms process to sensitive system files
• Network connections from the AEM server to unexpected external hosts (indicating SSRF via XXE)

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web application firewall (WAF) logs for XML payloads containing DOCTYPE, ENTITY, or SYSTEM keywords
• Implement content inspection rules to detect common XXE attack patterns in incoming requests
• Review AEM Forms access logs for requests with XML content types targeting form submission endpoints
• Deploy SentinelOne Singularity to detect anomalous file read operations from the AEM Forms application process

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for XML parsing operations in AEM Forms
• Configure alerts for file access attempts to sensitive paths like /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, or application configuration files
• Monitor for unusual outbound network connections from the AEM server that could indicate data exfiltration
• Implement network-level detection for XML documents containing external entity references

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-54254

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Adobe Experience Manager Forms to the latest patched version as described in APSB25-82
• Review and audit all XML processing configurations in your AEM Forms deployment
• Implement web application firewall rules to block requests containing XXE attack patterns
• Restrict network egress from AEM servers to prevent SSRF exploitation

Patch Information

Adobe has released a security update addressing this vulnerability. Organizations running Adobe Experience Manager Forms versions 6.5.23 and earlier should immediately apply the security patch referenced in Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-82. Contact Adobe support or check the Adobe Experience Manager security documentation for specific patch installation instructions.

Workarounds

• Configure XML parsers to disable external entity processing by setting appropriate parser features
• Implement input validation to reject XML documents containing DOCTYPE declarations
• Deploy a web application firewall with rules to filter XXE attack patterns
• Restrict file system permissions for the AEM Forms service account to limit the impact of successful exploitation

If immediate patching is not possible, configure your XML parser settings to disable external entities:

<!-- Disable external entities in XML parser configuration -->
<!-- Set these features in your XML parser factory -->
<!-- FEATURE: http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl = true -->
<!-- FEATURE: http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities = false -->
<!-- FEATURE: http://xml.org/sax/features/external-parameter-entities = false -->