CVE-2023-48506 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.18 and earlier. This vulnerability arises from insufficient input sanitization in certain form fields within AEM, allowing a low-privileged attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that is persistently stored on the server. When a victim user accesses a page containing the compromised form field, the malicious script executes in their browser context. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, indicating improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.4 (medium severity), with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), user interaction required (UI:R), scope changed (S:C), and impacts on confidentiality and integrity (C:L/I:L) but no impact on availability (A:N). The scope change means the vulnerability affects components beyond the initially vulnerable component, potentially allowing broader impact. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability could be leveraged to perform session hijacking, defacement, or unauthorized actions on behalf of users with access to the affected pages. Since AEM is a widely used enterprise content management system, exploitation could lead to compromise of sensitive content, user credentials, or facilitate further attacks within an organization’s web infrastructure.

For European organizations using Adobe Experience Manager, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of web content and user data. Attackers exploiting this flaw could execute malicious scripts in the browsers of employees, partners, or customers, potentially leading to credential theft, unauthorized access, or manipulation of displayed content. This could damage organizational reputation, lead to data breaches, and violate data protection regulations such as GDPR if personal data is exposed. Given that AEM is often used by large enterprises, government agencies, and public sector organizations across Europe for managing digital assets and websites, the impact could be widespread. The requirement for user interaction (visiting a maliciously crafted page) means social engineering or phishing could be used to increase exploitation success. The medium CVSS score reflects moderate risk, but the potential for chained attacks or targeting high-value users elevates the threat level in sensitive environments.

European organizations should prioritize updating Adobe Experience Manager to the latest patched version once Adobe releases a fix for this vulnerability. In the interim, administrators should implement strict input validation and sanitization on all user-submitted data fields within AEM, especially those exposed to low-privileged users. Employing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers can help mitigate the impact of injected scripts by restricting script execution sources. Additionally, organizations should audit and monitor web application logs for unusual input patterns or repeated attempts to inject scripts. User awareness training to recognize phishing attempts and suspicious links can reduce the risk of user interaction exploitation. Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) configured with rules to detect and block common XSS payloads can provide an additional layer of defense. Finally, segmenting AEM infrastructure and limiting administrative privileges reduces the potential damage if exploitation occurs.