CVE-2012-0770
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 · uneditedAdobe ColdFusion 8.0, 8.0.1, 9.0, and 9.0.1 computes hash values for form parameters without restricting the ability to trigger hash collisions predictably, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many crafted parameters.
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 confidenceAdobe ColdFusion 8.0-9.0.1 uses a hash function for form parameter storage that does not defend against hash collision attacks. Attackers can send specially crafted form parameters that all hash to the same bucket, forcing the server to process hash table operations at O(n²) complexity and causing CPU exhaustion.
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= 8.0= 8.0.1= 9.0= 9.0.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify ColdFusion versionAccess the ColdFusion Administrator by navigating to /CFIDE/administrator/ or check the version.txt file in the ColdFusion installation directory. The version information is also available in the Administrator under 'Server Settings > ColdFusion Administrator'.Affected if The installed version is 8.0, 8.0.1, 9.0, or 9.0.1
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Confirm web-facing exposureDetermine if the ColdFusion server is directly accessible from the network or internet. Check the web server configuration (IIS, Apache, or built-in ColdFusion server) to see if the /scripts/cfcint directory or form handling endpoints are exposed to untrusted clients.Affected if The server accepts HTTP form submissions from untrusted or public network sources
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Check for hash collision DoS symptomsMonitor the ColdFusion server process for sustained high CPU usage (near 100%) and request processing times that increase exponentially. Review server logs for any slow request warnings or timeout errors occurring in bursts.Affected if CPU remains elevated during periods of normal form-based traffic, or request processing times spike disproportionately with moderate request volumes
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Inspect form parameter handlingReview the ColdFusion server configuration in the Administrator under 'Server Settings > Request Tuning' to see if form field limits and timeout settings are configured. Also check for any custom Application.cfc settings that may affect form processing.Affected if Form field limits are set to default values (unlimited) and the server is processing form submissions without rate limiting configured
You are affected if running ColdFusion versions 8.0 through 9.0.1 and the server accepts HTTP form submissions from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU by sending specially crafted form parameters that collide to the same hash bucket.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade to ColdFusion 10+ which includes hash randomization, or apply Adobe's hotfix for this vulnerability; alternatively, implement request rate limiting at the web application firewall or load balancer level.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0770 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-0770 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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