CVE-2025-43563

9.1 CRITICAL

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes an Improper Access Control vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion that allows high-privileged attackers to read arbitrary files from the file system without authorization. The vulnerability affects ColdFusion versions 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 and earlier, and exploitation requires no user interaction with changed scope.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Adobe ColdFusion
Versions: 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 and earlier
Operating Systems: All supported platforms
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Requires high-privileged attacker access; affects all ColdFusion installations within the version range regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

Coldfusion by Adobe

Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web application development platform and server providing a Java-based runtime environment for building dynamic websites, web applications, REST APIs, and enterprise integrations. Deployed across government agencies, financial services, healthcare organizations...

Learn more about Coldfusion →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Attackers with administrative access could read sensitive files including configuration files, credentials, source code, and database files, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

🟠

Likely Case

Privileged attackers reading configuration files containing database credentials, API keys, or other sensitive information to escalate access.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper network segmentation and least privilege access controls, impact is limited to the ColdFusion application server's file system only.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH
🏢 Internal Only: HIGH

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No
Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires high-privileged access but is straightforward once that access is obtained.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: ColdFusion 2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20

Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb25-52.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download the appropriate update from Adobe's website. 2. Backup your ColdFusion installation. 3. Apply the update following Adobe's installation guide. 4. Restart ColdFusion services.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict administrative access

all

Limit administrative access to ColdFusion to only trusted users and networks

Implement network segmentation

all

Isolate ColdFusion servers from sensitive file systems and databases

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Implement strict access controls to limit administrative access to ColdFusion
  • Monitor ColdFusion administrative logs for suspicious file access patterns

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check ColdFusion version in ColdFusion Administrator under 'System Information' or via cfadmin API

Check Version:

On Windows: cfadmin -v or check ColdFusion Administrator interface

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify ColdFusion version is 2025.2, 2023.14, or 2021.20 or later

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unusual file read operations in ColdFusion logs
  • Administrative access from unexpected sources

Network Indicators:

  • Unusual outbound file transfers from ColdFusion servers

SIEM Query:

source="coldfusion" AND (event_type="file_read" OR action="admin_access")

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export