CVE-2023-21615
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 · uneditedExperience Manager versions 6.5.15.0 (and earlier) are affected by a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. If a low-privileged attacker is able to convince a victim to visit a URL referencing a vulnerable page, malicious JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser.
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 · high confidenceAdobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.15.0 and earlier contain a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing JavaScript payloads that, when visited by victims, execute within the context of their browser due to insufficient input validation or output encoding on vulnerable pages.
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< 6.5.16.0< 2023.1.0CVSS 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
- 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.
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Check AEM version via System ConsoleNavigate to the AEM System Console at /system/console/bundles or /system/console and locate the product version information displayed on the pageAffected if The displayed version is 6.5.15.0 or earlier, or the version cannot be confirmed as 6.5.16.0 or later
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Check version via product info endpointAccess the product info endpoint at /libs/granite/core/content/login.json or /system/console/product.json (authenticated access may be required)Affected if The returned version number is below 6.5.16.0 for on-premise AEM, or below 2023.1.0 for AEM Cloud Service
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Verify the AEM Cloud Service releaseCheck the Cloud Service release notes or the environment details in the Adobe Cloud Manager console to confirm the specific release versionAffected if The Cloud Service release is earlier than the 2023.1.0 release
A user is affected if their Adobe Experience Manager installation is version 6.5.15.0 or earlier for on-premise, or earlier than 2023.1.0 for Cloud Service, as these versions lack the input validation and output encoding fixes for the reflected XSS vulnerability.
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 · scoped6.5.16.02023.1.0
Upgrade to Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.15.1 or later, which contains the security patch for this vulnerability. Alternatively, implement URL parameter validation and output encoding on affected endpoints.
AEM 6.5.16.0 (on-premise) or AEM Cloud Service 2023.1.0
- 1. Identify the Adobe Experience Manager deployment type (on-premise or Cloud Service)
- 2. For on-premise AEM: Plan upgrade to version 6.5.16.0 or later
- 3. For AEM Cloud Service: Plan upgrade to version 2023.1.0 or later
- 4. Review Adobe's official upgrade documentation for your deployment type
- 5. Create a backup of the current AEM instance before upgrading
- 6. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- 7. Schedule maintenance window and perform the upgrade
- 8. Verify the XSS vulnerability is remediated by confirming the fixed version is running
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21615 — 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-2023-21615 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
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