CVE-2021-43764
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's Cloud Service offering, as well as version 6.5.10.0 (and below) are affected by a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be abused by an attacker to inject malicious scripts into vulnerable form fields. Malicious JavaScript may be executed in a victim’s browser when they browse to the page containing the vulnerable field.
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 confidenceAdobe Experience Manager (AEM) Cloud Service and version 6.5.10.0 and below contain a stored Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in form fields. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript that executes in victim browsers when they view pages containing the compromised fields.
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<= 6.5.10.0all versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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.
-
Identify AEM versionCheck the installed AEM version via the Help menu (Help > About Adobe Experience Manager) or by accessing /system/console/bundles and reviewing the core bundle version. Compare against 6.5.10.0.Affected if Version is 6.5.10.0 or lower, or the environment is AEM Cloud Service (any version).
-
Determine if AEM Forms is enabledAccess the AEM Forms UI at /aem/forms or check the presence of forms-related bundles in /system/console/bundles (look for 'Forms' or 'Adaptive Forms' bundles).Affected if Forms functionality is installed and active.
-
Review form field content for script injectionNavigate to the Forms UI (Tools > Forms > Forms and Documents) and inspect the XML/XDP definitions of adaptive forms. Search form field source files for suspicious patterns like '<script>', 'javascript:', 'onerror=', 'onload=', or encoded script tags within field values.Affected if Form field definitions contain unsanitized user-supplied content that could include script tags or event handlers.
-
Inspect published pages with form fieldsExamine the HTML source of published AEM pages containing form components. Use browser developer tools or view page source to inspect form input elements for any injected script content in value attributes or between tags.Affected if Rendered form fields contain raw script tags, javascript: URIs, or event handler attributes in the HTML output.
Your environment is affected if you are running AEM version 6.5.10.0 or below, or any version of AEM Cloud Service, and you have Forms functionality enabled with user-created form fields that may contain unsanitized content.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Adobe's official security patch when available. In the interim, disable or restrict access to affected form fields and implement input validation/sanitization on server-side form handling.
AEM 6.5.11.0 or later (6.5.x line); AEM Cloud Service - latest Adobe-managed version
- Identify all AEM instances running version 6.5.10.0 or below
- For AEM 6.5 on-premises: Upgrade to AEM 6.5.11.0 or later (the first release containing the security fix)
- For AEM Cloud Service: Monitor Adobe security bulletins for the available patched version and ensure your environment is updated to the latest release provided by Adobe
- After upgrade, verify that the form fields previously vulnerable to stored XSS now properly sanitize input
- Test the fix by attempting to inject script content in form fields and confirm it is rendered as plain text or properly escaped
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-43764 — 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-2021-43764 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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