CVE-2025-46877 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier. This vulnerability arises from insufficient input sanitization in certain form fields, 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 vulnerable form field, the malicious script executes in their browser context. The vulnerability is classified as a DOM-based XSS (CWE-79), meaning the attack payload manipulates the Document Object Model on the client side, potentially bypassing some traditional server-side input validation mechanisms. 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). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. However, the vulnerability poses a risk of session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized actions performed in the context of the victim’s browser session, potentially leading to further compromise within affected environments. Given AEM’s role as a content management system widely used for enterprise web applications, exploitation could affect both internal users and external visitors depending on deployment configurations.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant due to the widespread use of Adobe Experience Manager in government, financial, healthcare, and large enterprise sectors across Europe. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including user credentials and session tokens, undermining confidentiality. Integrity could be compromised through unauthorized actions performed on behalf of legitimate users, such as content manipulation or privilege escalation within the web application. Although availability is not directly impacted, the reputational damage and potential regulatory consequences under GDPR for data breaches involving personal data could be severe. The requirement for user interaction (victim visiting a maliciously crafted page) limits the attack surface somewhat but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments with high user traffic or where attackers can lure users to malicious links. The medium severity rating reflects a moderate but non-trivial risk that should be addressed promptly to prevent exploitation in European organizations that rely on AEM for critical web services.

1. Immediate mitigation should include implementing strict input validation and output encoding on all form fields within Adobe Experience Manager to prevent injection of malicious scripts. 2. Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of potential XSS payloads. 3. Monitor web application logs for unusual input patterns or repeated attempts to inject scripts. 4. Educate users about the risks of clicking on suspicious links and encourage cautious browsing behavior. 5. Apply any forthcoming official patches from Adobe as soon as they become available. 6. Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules specifically designed to detect and block XSS payloads targeting AEM. 7. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focused on client-side vulnerabilities to identify and remediate similar issues proactively. 8. For critical deployments, implement multi-factor authentication to reduce the impact of credential theft resulting from XSS exploitation.