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ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-1114

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-05-11
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
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 10 before Update 19, 11 before Update 8, and 2016 before Update 1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object, related to the Apache Commons Collections library.

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 versions 10 before Update 19, 11 before Update 8, and 2016 before Update 1 contain a deserialization vulnerability in the bundled Apache Commons Collections library. Attackers can send specially crafted serialized Java objects to the ColdFusion server to achieve remote code execution without authentication.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied updates: ColdFusion 10 Update 19 or later, ColdFusion 11 Update 8 or later, and ColdFusion 2016 Update 1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, network segmentation and restricting external access to ColdFusion ports can reduce exposure.

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:= 10.0= 11.0= 2016

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. Identify installed ColdFusion version
    Log into the ColdFusion Administrator console and navigate to the Server Settings > About page, or check the version.txt file in the ColdFusion installation directory.
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.x, 11.x, or 2016 but the Update number is below 19 for version 10, below 8 for version 11, or below 1 for version 2016.
  2. Confirm ColdFusion Update level
    In ColdFusion Administrator, go to the Updates section to view the applied Update version, or check the hfupdate.txt file in the lib directory.
    Affected if The installed Update is earlier than Update 19 for ColdFusion 10, earlier than Update 8 for ColdFusion 11, or earlier than Update 1 for ColdFusion 2016.
  3. Verify Apache Commons Collections library version
    Locate the commons-collections.jar file within the ColdFusion installation under the lib orWEB-INF/lib directory, then check the jar manifest or use a JAR inspection tool to identify the exact version.
    Affected if The bundled commons-collections library is version 3.2.1 or earlier, which contains the vulnerable deserialization classes.
  4. Assess exposure of deserialization endpoints
    Review ColdFusion server configuration and exposed web services or Remoting endpoints that accept serialized Java objects from unauthenticated sources.
    Affected if The server has exposed endpoints such as /flexgateway, BlazeDS, or custom Java remoting services accessible externally without authentication.

A ColdFusion 10 installation below Update 19, ColdFusion 11 below Update 8, or ColdFusion 2016 below Update 1 is vulnerable if it exposes deserialization endpoints to the network.

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

Apply the vendor-supplied updates: ColdFusion 10 Update 19 or later, ColdFusion 11 Update 8 or later, and ColdFusion 2016 Update 1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, network segmentation and restricting external access to ColdFusion ports can reduce exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 10 Update 19, ColdFusion 11 Update 8, or ColdFusion 2016 Update 1 (whichever applies to your version)

  1. Log in to the Adobe ColdFusion Administrator console
  2. Navigate to the Updates section
  3. Check for available updates and apply ColdFusion 10 Update 19 or later
  4. Alternatively, download the update from the Adobe ColdFusion downloads page: https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-10-update-19.html for CF10, https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-11-update-8.html for CF11, or https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2016-update-1.html for CF2016
  5. Apply the update and restart the ColdFusion services
  6. Verify the update was successfully applied by checking the version in Administrator
Caveat Review Adobe's update notes for any known compatibility issues with custom code or third-party integrations before applying

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2016-1114 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