Adobe Experience Manager CVE-2025-54254 XXE Vulnerability: Brief Summary and Patch Guidance

Introduction

A critical XML External Entity (XXE) flaw in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms on JEE can expose sensitive files on production servers to unauthenticated attackers. Organizations that rely on AEM Forms for document processing and workflow automation need to act quickly to prevent data leakage and potential follow-on attacks.

About Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) and AEM Forms: Adobe is a major provider of enterprise digital experience software, and large organizations widely use AEM for content management, digital asset management, and forms processing. AEM Forms on Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) is a core component in many enterprise document workflows, so a vulnerability in this product has a large impact across industries.

Technical information

CVE-2025-54254 comes from improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) references in AEM Forms on JEE. It affects all versions up to and including 6.5.23.0. When the application parses XML input, it does not properly restrict external entity declarations. An attacker can submit crafted XML with external entity references that point to files on the server's filesystem. The XML parser processes these entities, which lets the attacker read arbitrary files from the server.

Key technical points:

• The vulnerability is pre-authentication and requires no user interaction.
• Attackers can target any endpoint in AEM Forms on JEE that accepts XML input.
• An attacker can read sensitive files such as configuration files, credentials, or other data stored on the server.
• The root cause is an XML parser that does not disable external entity resolution, which goes against secure XML processing best practices (CWE-611).

As of this writing, no official advisory or public source has published code snippets or details of the vulnerable endpoints.

Proof of concept

Adobe has acknowledged that proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits are publicly available for two critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms on Java Enterprise Edition (JEE):

• CVE-2025-54253: A misconfiguration can lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker could send crafted requests to an affected AEM Forms instance and execute arbitrary code on the server.

• CVE-2025-54254: Improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) references leads to arbitrary file system read. An attacker could submit malicious XML to read sensitive files from the server's file system.

The available sources do not include technical details or code from these PoCs. Their existence is still a strong reason to apply Adobe's security updates promptly.

Reference: Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-82

Patch information

Adobe has released a security update for Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms on Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) that fixes critical vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution and arbitrary file system read. (helpx.adobe.com)

Vulnerabilities addressed:

• CVE-2025-54254: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE) leading to arbitrary file system read.
• CVE-2025-54253: Misconfiguration leading to arbitrary code execution.

Severity ratings:

• CVE-2025-54254: Critical, with a CVSS base score of 8.6.
• CVE-2025-54253: Critical, with a CVSS base score of 10.0.

Affected versions: AEM Forms on JEE versions 6.5.23.0 and earlier.

Solution:

Adobe recommends that users update their installations to the latest version, 6.5.0-0108, to mitigate these vulnerabilities. (helpx.adobe.com)

Update instructions:

1. Back up your environment:

   • Back up your CRX Repository, Database Schema, and Global Document Storage (GDS).
   • Back up the <AEM_forms_root>/deploy folder.

2. Download the required software:

   • AEM Forms on JEE Service Pack.
   • Fragment Servlet.
   • AEM Service Pack.
   • Forms add-on package.

3. Install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages: On the computer where AEM 6.5 Forms is installed, download and install the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages for Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

4. Install the AEM Forms on JEE Service Pack:

   • Stop your application server.
   • Extract the AEM Forms on JEE Service Pack installer archive to your hard drive.
   • Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.

5. Install the Servlet Fragment (if not installed):

   • Download the fragment from the Software Distribution portal.
   • Start the application server and check the bundle state.
   • Open Web Console Bundles and install the downloaded fragment.
   • Stop the application server.

6. Install the AEM Service Pack:

   • If the instance is in update mode, restart it before installation.
   • Take a snapshot or a fresh backup of your Experience Manager instance.
   • Download the service pack from Software Distribution.
   • Open Package Manager, then upload and install the package.

7. Install the AEM Forms add-on package:

   • Confirm that you have installed the Experience Manager service pack.
   • Download the Forms add-on package for your operating system.
   • Install the Forms add-on package as described in the installation instructions.

Validation:

• Verify that the product information page (/system/console/productinfo) displays the updated version string Adobe Experience Manager (spversion) under Installed Products.
• Check that every OSGi bundle in the OSGi Console (/system/console/bundles) is either ACTIVE or FRAGMENT.
• Confirm that the OSGi bundle org.apache.jackrabbit.oak-core is version 1.22.14 or later.

Completing these steps applies the security update that mitigates these vulnerabilities in AEM Forms on JEE. (experienceleague.adobe.com)

Affected systems and versions

• Product: Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms on Java Enterprise Edition (JEE)
• Affected versions: All versions up to and including 6.5.23.0
• Vulnerable configurations: Any deployment of AEM Forms on JEE that has not been updated to 6.5.0-0108

Vendor security history

Adobe has a history of shipping regular security updates for AEM products. In 2025, multiple critical vulnerabilities were disclosed in AEM Forms, including CVE-2025-54253 (arbitrary code execution) and CVE-2025-54254 (XXE file read), and Adobe responded promptly with advisories and patches. Even so, the recurring XML and configuration-related flaws indicate that secure development remains a challenge for complex enterprise products like AEM Forms.

References

• NVD Entry for CVE-2025-54254
• MITRE CVE Entry
• Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-82
• AEM Forms Service Pack Installation Instructions