dbcve.org
Experience ManagerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2024-36209

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.5.21 / 2024.5 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 6.5.20 and earlier 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 · high confidence

Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.20 and earlier contain a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in form fields. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript that executes in victim browsers when viewing pages containing the compromised fields.

MitigationUpdate AEM to version 6.5.21 or later to apply the security patch. Until patched, implement output encoding and input validation on form fields as a compensating control.

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:< 6.5.21< 2024.5

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. Check installed AEM version
    Access the AEM Web Console (/system/console/configMgr) or check the com.adobe.version.txt file in the crx-quickstart folder. You can also query the version via the AEM SDK or crxde. Compare the version number against the fixed releases: 6.5.21 or 2024.5 and later.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 6.5.21 or earlier than the 2024.5 release line.
  2. Identify custom form field components
    In CRX/DE (crx/de.jsp), search under /apps for custom components that extend form fields or use the foundation/components/form framework. Look for components under /apps/*/components that include 'form' in their node names or inherit from form-related mixins.
    Affected if Custom form field components exist in the /apps directory, particularly those that accept user input without proper encoding.
  3. Review form field JSP or HTL templates for output encoding
    Open the rendering script (JSP or HTL) for each custom form component identified. Inspect how user-submitted values are rendered back. Look for presence of encoding functions such as xssAPI.getEncoded() in HTL or similar encoding utilities in JSP scripts.
    Affected if Form field templates output user input without applying output encoding functions (xssAPI or equivalent encoding methods).
  4. Inspect stored form data for malicious scripts
    Query the JCR repository using CRXDE or a tool like the AEM Query Builder. Search nodes under /content that contain form submission data. Examine stored values for patterns matching script tags, javascript: URIs, or event handler attributes (onload, onerror, etc.).
    Affected if Form submission nodes contain unencoded HTML or JavaScript content, indicating potential exploitation.

You are affected if your AEM version is below 6.5.21 or below the 2024.5 release AND you have custom form field components that render user input without output encoding.

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 6.5.21 / 2024.5 or later
Fixed in 6.5.212024.5
Interim mitigation

Update AEM to version 6.5.21 or later to apply the security patch. Until patched, implement output encoding and input validation on form fields as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

AEM 6.5.21 (for 6.5.x branch) or AEM 2024.5 (for Cloud Service)

  1. 1. Back up your Adobe Experience Manager instance and content repository before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. 2. For AEM 6.5.x customers: Upgrade to Adobe Experience Manager version 6.5.21 or later
  3. 3. For AEM as a Cloud Service customers: Upgrade to version 2024.5 or later
  4. 4. After upgrading, clear the AEM cache and rebuild any custom indexes if necessary
  5. 5. Test the fix by verifying that malicious scripts can no longer be injected into form fields that were previously vulnerable
  6. 6. Verify that legitimate form submissions and content authoring functionality continue to work as expected
Caveat Standard upgrade testing recommended; minimal breaking changes expected for security patch releases

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

Fix this in Experience Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-36209 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-36209 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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