Adobe Experience Manager: DOM-based cross-site scripting
Summary
CVE-2026-118479 is a DOM-based cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). An attacker who lures a user to a crafted web page can manipulate the DOM to run malicious JavaScript in the victim's browser, with the scope changed. The CVSS vector rates confidentiality and integrity impact as low and availability impact as none (CVSS 5.4, Medium). The CVE record and the Adobe advisory disagree on which AEM 6.5 versions are affected, so the exact exposure must be confirmed.
Affected
- Adobe Experience Manager 6.5 according to the CVE record: versions 0 through 6.5.25
- The Adobe advisory APSB26-189 marks AEM 6.5 and AEM 6.5 LTS as not affected in one copy; this conflicts with the CVE record
- Unknown: the applicable affected versions must be confirmed on the live advisory
Fixed in
- Forms Hotfix for AEM 6.5 QuickStart - 1.0.12 (per CVE record)
- AEM Cloud Service: fixed in 2026.10.29251 (per advisory)
- Other AEM 6.5 fixes: see APSB26-189 for your service pack
Workaround
Unknown. No workaround is documented in the sources reviewed.
Exploitation
- Adobe is not aware of any exploits in the wild for the issues addressed in APSB26-189.
- The CVE is not listed in CISA KEV at the time of research.
- No public proof of concept was found; this does not rule out exploitation.
Our recommendation
- Confirm on advisory APSB26-189 whether your instance is AEM Cloud Service or AEM 6.5 and which fix applies.
- Apply the vendor's current update or hotfix for your version, starting with internet-facing author and publish instances.
- Check whether AEM is reachable from the internet and whether users can log in there.
- Monitor for suspicious browser-side activity and recheck the advisory and NVD in a few days.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Adobe Security Bulletin APSB26-189 www.adobe.com
- CVE Record CVE-2026-118479 www.cve.org
- OpenCVE CVE-2026-118479 app.opencve.io
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 17:22.
Original description (NVD)
Adobe 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.
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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