CVE-2026-48255
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 is affected by a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. An attacker could exploit this issue by manipulating the DOM environment to execute malicious JavaScript within the context of the victim's browser. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must visit a crafted webpage. Scope is changed.
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 confidenceDOM-based Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager where attackers can manipulate the DOM environment to inject and execute malicious JavaScript within a victim's browser. The attack requires user interaction, specifically that the victim visits a crafted webpage. The CVSS scope change indicates the vulnerability can impact components beyond the vulnerable AEM component itself.
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<= 6.5.25.0<= 2020.5.0= 6.5CVSS 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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Identify the installed AEM versionAccess the AEM Welcome page and navigate to Help > About Adobe Experience Manager, or check the version.properties file in the crx-quickstart folder. Alternatively, query the AEM Version servlet at /system/console/product if accessible.Affected if The version displayed is 6.5.x at or below 6.5.25.0, or is 2020.5.0 or below, or matches the 6.5 release line.
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Locate custom or third-party components handling DOM manipulationReview the /apps and /libs directories for custom components, especially those using client-side JavaScript that manipulates the DOM. Search for patterns like innerHTML, outerHTML, document.write, or jQuery .html() calls that accept user-controlled data.Affected if Custom components that insert unsanitized user input directly into the DOM are present and active on publish instances.
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Inspect Content Security Policy headersUse browser developer tools or a curl command to inspect CSP headers on AEM pages: curl -I https://your-aem-instance. Review the Content-Security-Policy header for script-src directives.Affected if CSP is absent, overly permissive (like unsafe-inline or unsafe-eval), or not configured to block inline scripts, which would allow the XSS to execute.
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Review AEM forms and user-generated content pathwaysAudit any AEM components that accept, store, and render user input including form fields, comments, or content fragments. Check how data flows from form submission to DOM rendering.Affected if User-controlled data from these pathways is rendered in the browser without proper encoding or sanitization.
You are affected if your AEM version falls within the affected ranges AND custom or out-of-the-box components handle user input insecurely without CSP mitigation.
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.
From vendor dataImplement proper output encoding and input sanitization for all user-controlled data before DOM insertion, combined with Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution. Given the scope change, audit all downstream components that consume data from the vulnerable AEM module.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation10.0 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-2026-48255 — 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-2026-48255 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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