CVE-2021-44177
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 confidenceThis is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) affecting both Cloud Service and on-premise versions 6.5.10.0 and below. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable form fields, which persists in the system and executes when users 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
- 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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Verify the installed AEM versionAccess the AEM System Information console (typically at /system/console/systeminfo) or check the version.properties file in the crx-quickstart directory. Compare the displayed version number against the affected range.Affected if The on-premise version is 6.5.10.0 or lower, or the environment is AEM Cloud Service (any version).
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Identify if AEM Forms or Adaptive Forms are in useCheck the AEM Forms console (typically at /aem/forms) or review the installed packages for forms-related components. Look for adaptive form models or form containers in the content structure under /content/forms.Affected if AEM Forms or Adaptive Forms features are enabled and form submissions are being collected.
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Review custom form field configurations for encoding settingsInspect the XML configuration or Granite datasource definitions for custom form fields under /apps or /conf. Look for FormField or similar components and verify whether output encoding (such as HTML escaping) is explicitly configured.Affected if Custom form fields exist and do not have explicit output encoding or sanitization configured.
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Search for suspicious script injections in form dataQuery the AEM repository (via CRXDE Lite or the Query Builder) for common XSS payloads in form submission nodes. Search the /content/forms directory for patterns like <script, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, and similar script injection vectors in stored data.Affected if Any form submissions contain unsanitized HTML or script tags that could execute when rendered.
You are affected if your AEM on-premise version is 6.5.10.0 or lower (or you use Cloud Service) AND you have Forms/Adaptive Forms enabled with custom or unvalidated form fields that could accept and store malicious script 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 · scopedUpdate AEM to the patched version (contact Adobe for specific patch release) and implement input validation/sanitization on all form fields to prevent script injection.
AEM 6.5.11.0 or later (on-premises); Cloud Service receives automatic updates
- Upgrade Adobe Experience Manager on-premises installation to version 6.5.11.0 or later
- For Experience Manager Cloud Service, no manual action required as Adobe pushes security updates automatically
- After upgrading, verify that form fields previously vulnerable to XSS now properly sanitize input
- Test the fix by attempting to inject script tags into form fields to confirm the vulnerability is remediated
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-44177 — 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-2021-44177 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