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Experience ManagerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38214

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.5.17 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 · unedited
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.17 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 confidence

Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.17 and earlier contain a reflected XSS vulnerability where malicious JavaScript can be injected into URL parameters. When a victim is tricked into visiting a specially crafted URL pointing to a vulnerable AEM page, the attacker's script executes within the victim's browser session, potentially allowing session hijacking or data theft.

MitigationApply the appropriate Adobe security patch or update to AEM 6.5.18 or later. Users should avoid clicking untrusted URLs, and Content Security Policy headers should be implemented as a defense-in-depth measure.

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
Experience ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 6.5.17

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify AEM installation and version
    Access the AEM web console or check the system information page at /system/console or look for version.info in the installation directory. Use the AEM SDK or CRX console to confirm the exact installed version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 6.5.17 or any version lower than 6.5.18
  2. Determine if the AEM instance is accessible via web
    Attempt to access the AEM login page or any public-facing AEM page. Note the base URL and observe if URL parameters are reflected in the response without visible sanitization.
    Affected if The AEM instance responds to HTTP requests and URL parameters can be observed in the page output
  3. Identify URL parameter handling endpoints
    Test common AEM paths such as /content, /libs, /apps, or any custom endpoints by appending test parameters (e.g., ?test=<script>alert(1)</script>) and observing if the parameter value is reflected verbatim in the HTML response.
    Affected if URL parameter values are reflected in the HTTP response without encoding or sanitization
  4. Check for Content Security Policy headers
    Use browser developer tools or a command-line tool like curl to inspect the HTTP response headers for 'Content-Security-Policy' or 'X-Content-Security-Policy' headers.
    Affected if No CSP headers are present in HTTP responses, indicating no defense-in-depth mitigation for XSS attacks
  5. Verify if the instance is exposed to untrusted users
    Review AEM dispatcher configurations and firewall rules to determine if the instance or specific paths are accessible to unauthenticated or untrusted users.
    Affected if The AEM instance or specific content paths are accessible to unauthenticated users who could be tricked into clicking malicious URLs

A user is affected if their AEM installation runs version 6.5.17 or earlier, has endpoints that reflect URL parameters without encoding, and lacks Content Security Policy headers as a compensating control.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6.5.17
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Adobe security patch or update to AEM 6.5.18 or later. Users should avoid clicking untrusted URLs, and Content Security Policy headers should be implemented as a defense-in-depth measure.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

AEM 6.5.18 or later (verify latest available 6.5.x release)

  1. Upgrade Adobe Experience Manager to a version newer than 6.5.17 (such as 6.5.18 or later if available) to resolve the reflected XSS vulnerability.
  2. After upgrading, verify that the application functions correctly and test that the XSS vulnerability is no longer exploitable.
  3. Ensure that any custom code or integrations are tested for compatibility with the new AEM version.
Caveat Review Adobe's release notes for the target version to check for any breaking changes or deprecations that may affect your implementation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Experience Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-38214 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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