Coldfusion ServerApplication · Allaire

CVE-1999-0756

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-03-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
ColdFusion Administrator with Advanced Security enabled allows remote users to stop the ColdFusion server via the Start/Stop utility.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

ColdFusion Administrator with Advanced Security enabled allows remote unauthenticated or unauthorized users to stop the ColdFusion server via the Start/Stop utility due to insufficient access control enforcement.

MitigationDisable or restrict access to the Start/Stop utility in ColdFusion Administrator, and ensure Advanced Security is properly configured with role-based access controls limiting this function to authorized administrators only.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Coldfusion ServerApplication
Affected:= 4.0= 4.0.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify ColdFusion Server version
    Locate and inspect the ColdFusion installation to determine the exact version number (for example, check the product documentation for version lookup methods, or examine installed program information)
    Affected if The installed version is ColdFusion Server 4.0 or 4.0.1
  2. Locate ColdFusion Administrator
    Access the ColdFusion Administrator interface (typically accessed via web browser on the server's administration port)
    Affected if The Administrator interface is reachable
  3. Verify Advanced Security status
    Within ColdFusion Administrator, navigate to the Advanced Security configuration panel and determine whether Advanced Security is currently enabled
    Affected if Advanced Security is enabled in the ColdFusion Administrator
  4. Inspect Start/Stop utility access controls
    In the ColdFusion Administrator, locate the Start/Stop utility (or Server Services) section and examine the access control settings or role assignments for this function
    Affected if The Start/Stop utility is accessible without proper role-based restrictions, or no authorized administrator role is required to stop the server
  5. Test remote accessibility of Administrator
    Attempt to access the ColdFusion Administrator interface from a remote system (or verify network accessibility of the admin port) to determine if unauthenticated remote access is possible
    Affected if The ColdFusion Administrator or Start/Stop utility is accessible from remote systems without authentication

A defender is affected if ColdFusion Server 4.0 or 4.0.1 is installed with Advanced Security enabled and the Start/Stop utility lacks proper role-based access controls, allowing unauthorized remote shutdown.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable or restrict access to the Start/Stop utility in ColdFusion Administrator, and ensure Advanced Security is properly configured with role-based access controls limiting this function to authorized administrators only.

Fix this in Coldfusion Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-1999-0756 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data