CVE-2025-46942 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 within the AEM platform, 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 within their browser context. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, indicating improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The CVSS v3.1 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), and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability affects components beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact affects confidentiality and integrity but not availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. Stored XSS vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they can lead to session hijacking, credential theft, unauthorized actions on behalf of users, and potential lateral movement within an organization’s web infrastructure. Given AEM’s role as a content management system widely used by enterprises for managing web content and digital assets, exploitation could compromise sensitive business information and user data.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be significant, especially for those relying on Adobe Experience Manager to manage public-facing websites, intranets, or customer portals. Exploitation could lead to theft of user credentials, session tokens, or other sensitive data, enabling attackers to impersonate legitimate users or administrators. This could result in unauthorized access to confidential corporate information, defacement of websites, or distribution of malware to end users. Additionally, the integrity of the content managed by AEM could be compromised, undermining trust in the organization’s digital presence. Given the GDPR and other stringent data protection regulations in Europe, a breach resulting from this vulnerability could also lead to regulatory penalties and reputational damage. The requirement for user interaction and low privileges to exploit means that attackers could leverage social engineering or phishing campaigns to increase success rates. The medium CVSS score reflects a moderate but non-negligible risk that should be addressed promptly to prevent escalation or chaining with other vulnerabilities.

European organizations should prioritize the following specific mitigation steps: 1) Immediately audit all AEM instances to identify usage of vulnerable versions (6.5.22 and earlier). 2) Apply any available Adobe security patches or updates as soon as they are released; if patches are not yet available, implement temporary mitigations such as input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data in form fields within AEM. 3) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block common XSS payloads targeting AEM form fields. 4) Conduct thorough security testing, including automated and manual penetration testing focused on stored XSS vectors in AEM-managed content. 5) Educate content authors and administrators about the risks of injecting untrusted content and enforce strict content sanitization policies. 6) Monitor logs and user activity for unusual behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 7) Restrict privileges for users who can submit content to the minimum necessary to reduce the attack surface. 8) Consider implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the impact of any injected scripts. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice and address the specific nature of stored XSS in AEM environments.