CVE-2025-46853
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 · uneditedAdobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.22 and earlier are affected by a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be abused by a low privileged 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 versions 6.5.22 and earlier contain a stored XSS vulnerability where low-privileged users can inject malicious JavaScript into form fields. The injected payload persists in the application and executes when other users browse to pages containing the affected 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< 6.5.23.0< 2025.5.0CVSS 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 installed AEM versionNavigate to the AEM Welcome page or check the com.adobe.granite.package info via the system console (/system/console/bundles). The version is typically displayed in the lower-left corner of the AEM start page or in the product info endpoint.Affected if The installed version is less than 6.5.23.0 or less than 2025.5.0, meaning it falls within the vulnerable range.
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Identify accessible form componentsReview the AEM page editor and look for form components such as Form, Text Field, Textarea, or similar input components that are used in content pages. Check which components allow low-privileged users to create or edit content.Affected if Low-privileged users (such as authors with limited permissions) can access and submit data through form input components on published pages.
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Inspect form field configuration for output encodingNavigate to the form component's edit dialog in AEM and inspect the field properties. Look for the Text Size limit setting and other input validation options in the component's design dialog or the Granite UI form field configuration.Affected if Form fields lack strict input validation rules or output encoding is not explicitly configured, leaving them susceptible to stored XSS injection.
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Test for stored XSS injection capabilityAs a low-privileged user, create or edit a page containing a form field and attempt to insert a simple JavaScript payload like <script>alert(1)</script> or <img src=x onerror=alert(1)> into a text field. Save and publish the page if possible.Affected if The injected JavaScript payload is successfully saved and persists in the content, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Verify cross-user payload executionLog in as a different user (with higher privileges) and navigate to the page containing the previously injected payload. Observe whether the JavaScript executes in the browser when the page loads.Affected if The payload executes when another user views the page, confirming the stored XSS is exploitable and affects other users.
You are affected if your AEM version is below 6.5.23.0 or below 2025.5.0 AND low-privileged users can inject unsanitized JavaScript into form fields that persist and execute for other users viewing those pages.
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 · scoped6.5.23.02025.5.0
Implement strict input validation and output encoding on all form fields, apply Content Security Policy headers, and upgrade to a patched AEM version if available.
AEM 6.5.23.0+ or AEM as a Cloud Service 2025.5.0+
- Identify the current Adobe Experience Manager version in use (6.5.x on-premises or AEM as a Cloud Service)
- For AEM 6.5.x on-premises: Upgrade to version 6.5.23.0 or later
- For AEM as a Cloud Service: Upgrade to version 2025.5.0 or later
- After upgrading, clear any cached content and publish the updated forms/pages if necessary
- Verify the fix by testing that the previously vulnerable form fields no longer execute injected JavaScript
- Confirm the upgrade was successful by checking the AEM version in the Help > About Adobe Experience Manager menu (on-premises) or in the Cloud Manager version details (Cloud Service)
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
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-46853 — 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-2025-46853 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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