The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a critical Adobe Experience Manager Forms vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, warning that the flaw is being actively exploited in the wild.
The security issue, tracked as CVE-2025-54253, affects Adobe Experience Manager Forms in JEE and allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems.
Critical Vulnerability Enables Code Execution
CVE-2025-54253 is an unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager Forms that gives threat actors the ability to run malicious code remotely on affected servers.
Adobe Experience Manager is widely used by enterprises for content management and digital experience delivery, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations that rely on the platform.
| CVE ID | Product | Vulnerability | Ransomware Use |
| CVE-2025-54253 | Adobe Experience Manager Forms (JEE) | Arbitrary Code Execution | Unknown |
The flaw specifically impacts the JEE (Java Enterprise Edition) deployment of AEM Forms, which many businesses use to create and manage digital forms and documents.
When successfully exploited, attackers can gain unauthorized access to systems and execute commands with elevated privileges.
This type of vulnerability poses severe risks because it can lead to data breaches, system compromise, and potential lateral movement within enterprise networks.
The exact technical details of the vulnerability remain undisclosed to prevent widespread exploitation, but security researchers confirm that active exploitation is already underway.
CISA added CVE-2025-54253 to its KEV catalog on October 15, 2025, requiring federal civilian executive branch agencies to take immediate action.
Under the Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01, these agencies must apply vendor-provided security patches or discontinue using the vulnerable product by November 5, 2025.
This three-week remediation window reflects the serious nature of the threat and the urgency required to protect critical infrastructure.
While the directive specifically targets federal agencies, CISA strongly recommends that all organizations using Adobe Experience Manager Forms prioritize patching this vulnerability.
Currently, it remains unknown whether this flaw has been used in ransomware campaigns, though the arbitrary code execution capability makes it an attractive target for cybercriminals seeking initial access to corporate networks.
Organizations running Adobe Experience Manager Forms in JEE environments should immediately check their systems for exposure to CVE-2025-54253.
Adobe has released security updates addressing this vulnerability, and administrators should apply these patches without delay.
For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, organizations should implement compensating controls or consider temporarily disabling affected services until updates can be deployed.
Security teams should also monitor their AEM Forms deployments for signs of compromise and review access logs for suspicious activity that might indicate exploitation attempts.
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