CVE-2025-46977 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability affecting Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) versions 6.5.22 and earlier. This vulnerability arises from insufficient sanitization of user input in certain form fields, allowing a low-privileged attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that is persistently stored on the server. When a victim subsequently accesses the affected page containing the vulnerable form field, the malicious script executes within their browser context. This DOM-based XSS (CWE-79) can lead to unauthorized actions such as session hijacking, credential theft, or unauthorized manipulation of web application content. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.4, indicating a medium severity level. The vector details (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) show that the attack can be launched remotely over the network, requires low privileges but does require user interaction (victim visiting the malicious page), and impacts confidentiality and integrity with a scope change. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. Given AEM's role as a widely used enterprise content management system, this vulnerability could be leveraged to compromise the integrity of web content and user sessions, potentially facilitating further attacks within affected organizations.

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 sensitive user data, unauthorized actions performed on behalf of users, and reputational damage due to defacement or malicious content injection. Since AEM is often used by government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises in Europe, successful exploitation could disrupt critical services or leak confidential information. The medium severity rating reflects that while the vulnerability does not directly affect availability, the compromise of confidentiality and integrity can have cascading effects on trust and compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR. Additionally, the requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering could be used to increase the attack success rate.

Organizations should prioritize updating Adobe Experience Manager to the latest version once Adobe releases an official patch addressing CVE-2025-46977. In the interim, implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data in form fields to prevent script injection. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts in browsers. Conduct thorough code reviews and penetration testing focused on XSS vectors within AEM deployments. Limit user privileges to the minimum necessary to reduce the attack surface. Educate users about the risks of clicking on suspicious links or interacting with untrusted content. Monitor web application logs for unusual activity indicative of attempted exploitation. Finally, consider deploying web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules tailored to detect and block XSS payloads targeting AEM.