CVE-2022-44474 is a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) version 6.5.14 and earlier. Reflected XSS vulnerabilities occur when an application includes untrusted user input within a web page without proper validation or escaping, allowing an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code. In this case, a low-privileged attacker can craft a specially crafted URL referencing a vulnerable page in AEM. When a victim clicks on this URL, the malicious script executes within the victim’s browser context under the domain of the vulnerable AEM instance. This can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the victim. The vulnerability does not require the attacker to have elevated privileges on the system, nor does it require prior authentication. However, it does require social engineering to convince a victim to visit the malicious URL. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and Adobe has not provided a patch link in the provided data, suggesting that remediation may require manual mitigation or waiting for an official update. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, which is a common and well-understood web application security issue. Given the widespread use of Adobe Experience Manager in enterprise content management and digital experience platforms, this vulnerability poses a risk to organizations relying on AEM for web content delivery and customer engagement.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those using Adobe Experience Manager to manage public-facing websites or intranet portals. Successful exploitation could lead to the compromise of user sessions, theft of sensitive information such as authentication tokens or personal data, and potential defacement or manipulation of web content. This can damage organizational reputation, lead to regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations due to data leakage), and disrupt business operations. Since AEM is often integrated with other enterprise systems, the XSS vulnerability could serve as an entry point for more complex attacks, including lateral movement within the network. The medium severity rating reflects the fact that exploitation requires user interaction and does not directly compromise the server or backend systems, but the potential for data theft and user impact remains substantial.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should first verify their use of Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.14 or earlier and identify all instances exposed to external users. Immediate steps include implementing web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious URL patterns that may contain malicious scripts targeting the vulnerable pages. Organizations should also conduct thorough input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data within AEM pages to prevent script injection. Employing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can help restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers. User awareness training to recognize and avoid suspicious links can reduce the risk of successful social engineering. Monitoring web server logs for unusual URL requests and anomalous user behavior can aid in early detection of exploitation attempts. Finally, organizations should track Adobe security advisories closely and apply official patches or updates as soon as they become available to fully remediate the vulnerability.