Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-54253 is a critical-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager Forms. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.23 and earlier contain a misconfiguration vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-54253 and assigned CWE-863, that permits arbitrary code execution. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 10.0 with network attack vector, low complexity, no required privileges or user interaction, and changed scope, allowing an attacker to bypass security controls and run code on the affected system.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue directly over the network to achieve code execution without any user interaction. Successful exploitation grants the ability to bypass existing security mechanisms and obtain full control over the impacted Adobe Experience Manager instance.
Adobe has published an advisory detailing the affected versions and remediation steps at helpx.adobe.com, while independent research from Assetnote has linked the root cause to exposed Struts development-mode settings. The vulnerability appears in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming real-world exploitation. Its EPSS score rose materially from lower values at disclosure to a peak of 0.5874 on 2026-01-13 before receding to the current 0.2419, indicating increased attacker interest after public release.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-23647
Vulnerability Data
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.23 and earlier are affected by a Misconfiguration vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass security mechanisms and execute code. Exploitation of this issue does not require…
more
user interaction and scope is changed.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 15 October 2025
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.
AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.
A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.
Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed checks.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization checks.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.
Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.
By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
- V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863