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Coldfusion ServerApplication · Macromedia

CVE-2001-0535

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2001-10-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Example applications (Exampleapps) in ColdFusion Server 4.x do not properly restrict prevent access from outside the local host's domain, which allows remote attackers to conduct upload, read, or execute files by spoofing the "HTTP Host" (CGI.Host) variable in (1) the "Web Publish" example script, and (2) the "Email" example script.

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 · high confidence

ColdFusion Server 4.x example applications fail to properly validate the HTTP Host header (CGI.Host), allowing remote attackers to bypass domain-based access restrictions and perform unauthorized file operations including uploads, reads, and code execution by spoofing the host header.

MitigationRemove or disable the Exampleapps directory and its scripts from production ColdFusion Server 4.x deployments, as these demo applications were not designed for production use and contain inherent access control weaknesses exploitable via HTTP Host header spoofing.

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.x

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
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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. Confirm ColdFusion Server 4.x installation and version
    Check for ColdFusion installation by looking for the cfusion directory or registry entries. On Windows, check C:\CFUSION\ or look in the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Allaire\ColdFusion\CurrentVersion for the Version value.
    Affected if The installed version is any ColdFusion Server 4.x (4.0, 4.0.1, etc.)
  2. Locate the Exampleapps directory
    Search for a directory named 'exampleapps', 'examples', or 'sampleapps' within the ColdFusion web root (typically under C:\CFUSION\wwwroot\ or /opt/coldfusion/wwwroot/) or the default web server document root.
    Affected if The Exampleapps directory exists and contains demonstration ColdFusion applications (cfm files)
  3. Verify example applications are web-accessible
    Attempt to access http://localhost/exampleapps/ or check the web server configuration (IIS, Apache) to see if the exampleapps virtual directory or folder is mapped and accessible via HTTP.
    Affected if The example applications are accessible over HTTP without authentication
  4. Test Host header validation on example apps
    Send a crafted HTTP request to an example application with a spoofed Host header (e.g., Host: attacker-controlled-domain.com) using a tool like curl: curl -H 'Host: malicious.example.com' http://target/exampleapps/anyfile.cfm -v
    Affected if The application accepts and processes requests with arbitrary Host headers without rejecting or validating them against an allowed domain list
  5. Check for domain-based access controls
    Examine the example application CFML files in the Exampleapps directory for CGI.Host validation logic (search for 'CGI.Host', 'CGI.server_name', or domain whitelist checks in the cfm files).
    Affected if The example applications do not validate that CGI.Host matches an expected, authorized domain

A user is affected if they run ColdFusion Server 4.x with the example applications directory accessible on the web and those examples lack HTTP Host header validation, allowing domain-based access control bypass.

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

Remove or disable the Exampleapps directory and its scripts from production ColdFusion Server 4.x deployments, as these demo applications were not designed for production use and contain inherent access control weaknesses exploitable via HTTP Host header spoofing.

Fix this in Coldfusion Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
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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-2001-0535 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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