Description

Adobe Experience Manager is affected by an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, potentially gaining elevated access or control over the victim's account or session. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction. Scope is changed.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "10.0",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-13T20:17:29.017Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-13T20:17:29.017Z",
  "executiveSummary": "Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is susceptible to an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability that permits unauthorized actors to achieve Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE).\nThe vulnerability originates from flawed access control mechanisms within the application, allowing an attacker to bypass security boundaries.\nThe impact includes the potential for full system compromise, unauthorized data access, and elevated privilege escalation within the AEM environment.\nThe scope of the impact is classified as 'Changed,' indicating that the vulnerability affects resources or processes outside the initial security context of the application.\nExploitation does not require user interaction, lowering the barrier for remote attackers to successfully trigger the flaw.\nThis vulnerability presents a critical risk to organizational data integrity, confidentiality, and service availability, as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current authenticated user session or service account.",
  "technicalDetails": "The core issue resides in the AEM authorization framework, where specific endpoints or functions fail to validate the requester's permissions adequately before performing sensitive operations.\nIncorrect Authorization typically manifests when the application trusts user-supplied input or environmental variables to make access control decisions without enforcing secondary server-side validation.\nIn the context of AEM, this vulnerability allows an attacker to interact with internal APIs or administrative functions that are intended to be restricted to highly privileged users or administrative roles.\nBy manipulating requests—often via crafted HTTP payloads targeting vulnerable servlets or OSGi components—an attacker can bypass existing authentication filters.\nThe attack flow involves: 1) Identification of an improperly secured endpoint that handles object instantiation, script execution, or system configuration. 2) Crafting a malicious request that leverages the missing authorization check to invoke backend logic. 3) Utilizing the application's own context to execute arbitrary code. 4) Achieving code execution in the context of the user running the AEM process, which often inherits the privileges of the system or a highly privileged service account.\nBecause the scope is changed, an attacker may be able to influence system-level configurations or interact with auxiliary services integrated with AEM, extending the reach of the compromise beyond the immediate web application environment.\nThe lack of user interaction requirements implies that the attack can be fully automated via scripted exploitation, where an adversary sends a sequence of packets designed to bypass security filters and force the target application into an insecure state.\nSuccessful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution, which grants the attacker the ability to install persistent backdoors, exfiltrate sensitive repository content (such as CRX/DE data), or pivot within the internal network infrastructure.\nThe vulnerability highlights a failure in the principle of least privilege, as the underlying component performs high-impact operations without verifying that the initiator possesses the requisite authorization tokens or roles required for such an operation.\nPost-exploitation activities are limited only by the permissions of the AEM process, which, in most default deployments, provides sufficient scope for complete takeover of the instance."
}