CVE-2020-9743
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAEM versions 6.5.5.0 (and below), 6.4.8.1 (and below), 6.3.3.8 (and below) and 6.2 SP1-CFP20 (and below) are affected by an HTML injection vulnerability in the content editor component that allows unauthenticated users to craft an HTTP request that includes arbitrary HTML code in a parameter value. An attacker could then use the malicious GET request to lure victims to perform unsafe actions in the page (ex. phishing).
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceHTML injection vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager's content editor component allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary HTML code into parameter values via crafted GET requests. This affects AEM versions 6.5.5.0 and below, 6.4.8.1 and below, 6.3.3.8 and below, and 6.2 SP1-CFP20 and below.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 6.3.0.0, <= 6.3.3.8>= 6.4.0.0, <= 6.4.8.1>= 6.5.0.0, <= 6.5.5.0= 6.2.0.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify AEM versionAccess the AEM system console or check the version file at /crx/packmgr/service.jsp?cmd=version or the about.json endpoint at /libs/granite/core/content/login.json. Alternatively, check the product.xml in the installation directory.Affected if The installed version falls within 6.3.0.0 to 6.3.3.8, 6.4.0.0 to 6.4.8.1, 6.5.0.0 to 6.5.5.0, or is 6.2.0.0 (SP1-CFP20 and below)
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Confirm content editor component is enabledDetermine whether the AEM Rich Text Editor (RTE) or content editor component is installed and enabled on the instance by reviewing the deployed bundles or component configuration in /apps or /libs.Affected if The content editor component (Rich Text Editor) is present and enabled on the AEM instance
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Check unauthenticated access to content editor endpointsAttempt a GET request to the content editor endpoint without authentication. Typical paths include /mnt/overlay/ or /editor.html endpoints that render the RTE component. Inspect whether the component accepts parameters without requiring authentication.Affected if The content editor component is accessible without authentication and accepts parameter input via GET requests
If your AEM version is within the affected ranges and the content editor component is exposed and accessible without authentication, your environment is vulnerable to HTML injection via crafted GET requests.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the appropriate AEM security patch or upgrade to a fixed version beyond the affected releases listed. Additionally, implement input validation and output encoding on the content editor component to prevent HTML injection.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9743 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-9743 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data