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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 7 Sep 2022.
ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2013-0625

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2013-01-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
Adobe ColdFusion 9.0, 9.0.1, and 9.0.2, when a password is not configured, allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in January 2013.

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

Adobe ColdFusion 9.0, 9.0.1, and 9.0.2 contains a critical authentication bypass vulnerability when the administrative password is not configured, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to gain full access to the ColdFusion Administrator and potentially execute arbitrary code on the server.

MitigationImmediately configure a strong password for the ColdFusion Administrator interface, ensure the admin console is not exposed to the internet, and conduct a forensic investigation to check for existing compromise given this was actively exploited in the wild.

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
ColdfusionApplication
Affected:= 9.0= 9.0.1= 9.0.2

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 version
    Access the ColdFusion Administrator login page (typically at /CFIDE/administrator/) and check the version displayed on the login page, or check the cfversion.txt file in the ColdFusion root directory.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.0, 9.0.1, or 9.0.2 exactly.
  2. Check administrator password status
    Attempt to log in to the ColdFusion Administrator console with a blank password for the administrator account. If authentication succeeds without requiring a password, the account is unconfigured.
    Affected if The administrator account can be accessed with a blank or no password, indicating the password was never set during installation.
  3. Inspect password configuration file
    Locate the security configuration file (neo-security.xml or password.properties in the lib directory under the ColdFusion root). Examine the admin.password or related field to see if it contains a hashed value or is empty.
    Affected if The administrator password field is empty or contains no hashed value, indicating no password was configured.
  4. Review server access logs
    Examine web server and ColdFusion logs for unauthorized access to /CFIDE/administrator/ endpoints, particularly from external IP addresses at unusual times.
    Affected if There are successful administrative access attempts from untrusted IP addresses without proper authentication credentials being submitted.

You are affected if ColdFusion version 9.0, 9.0.1, or 9.0.2 is running AND the administrator password was never configured (remains blank), allowing unauthenticated access to the admin console.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Immediately configure a strong password for the ColdFusion Administrator interface, ensure the admin console is not exposed to the internet, and conduct a forensic investigation to check for existing compromise given this was actively exploited in the wild.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 9.0.3 (or upgrade to ColdFusion 10/11/2016/2018/2021/2023

  1. 1. Verify the current ColdFusion version by accessing the ColdFusion Administrator at /CFIDE/administrator/index.cfm
  2. 2. If running ColdFusion 9.0, 9.0.1, or 9.0.2 without a password configured, this vulnerability is actively exploitable - immediately restrict network access to the server
  3. 3. Download and apply the ColdFusion 9.0.3 cumulative hotfix from Adobe's security bulletin APSB13-13 (or later applicable hotfixes)
  4. 4. Alternatively, upgrade to ColdFusion 10 or later (ColdFusion 9 reached end of life)
  5. 5. After patching/upgrading, configure a strong administrator password in the ColdFusion Administrator if not already set
  6. 6. Verify the fix by confirming authentication is required and working properly
Caveat ColdFusion 9.0.3 is the final release for ColdFusion 9; upgrading to ColdFusion 10+ may require code compatibility testing and configuration changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Coldfusion Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
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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-2013-0625 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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