dbcve.org
ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-15959

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-09-25
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 versions July 12 release (2018.0.0.310739), Update 6 and earlier, and Update 14 and earlier have a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.

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 contains a deserialization vulnerability where untrusted data is insecurely deserialized, allowing remote attackers to inject malicious serialized objects that execute arbitrary code on the affected server.

MitigationApply Adobe ColdFusion security updates: Update 7 or later for the 2018 release, or Update 15 or later for earlier releases, to patch the unsafe deserialization flaw.

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:= 11.0= 2016= 2018

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
    Check the ColdFusion Administrator dashboard or look for version files in the installation directory. You can also check the cfadmin interface or startup logs for the exact version string.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.0, 2016, or 2018 (unpatched releases).
  2. Determine if ColdFusion Administrator is network-accessible
    Check if the /CFIDE/administrator/ directory or the ColdFusion Administrator interface is exposed to the network or accessible without proper authentication controls.
    Affected if The administrator interface is accessible from untrusted networks without restriction.
  3. Review request logs for deserialization endpoints
    Inspect ColdFusion server access logs and debug logs for requests to endpoints that handle serialized data, looking for patterns involving serialized Java objects or unusual binary content in request bodies.
    Affected if Log entries show incoming requests with serialized object payloads to ColdFusion endpoints.
  4. Check for unauthorized code execution indicators
    Examine the server for unexpected JSP files, CFM files, or shell scripts in web-accessible directories, and review scheduled task logs for unauthorized tasks.
    Affected if Unexpected files or scheduled tasks exist that were not created by your legitimate administrators.

You are affected if your ColdFusion installation is version 11.0, 2016, or 2018 without the corresponding security updates (Update 7+ for 2018, Update 15+ for earlier versions), and the server processes untrusted serialized data.

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 Adobe ColdFusion security updates: Update 7 or later for the 2018 release, or Update 15 or later for earlier releases, to patch the unsafe deserialization flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 11 Update 7+; ColdFusion 2016 Update 15+; ColdFusion 2018 Update 3+

  1. 1. Identify your current ColdFusion version by checking the ColdFusion Administrator dashboard or the version number in the installation.
  2. 2. For ColdFusion 11: Apply ColdFusion 11 Update 7 or later (this addresses the deserialization vulnerability in Update 6 and earlier).
  3. 3. For ColdFusion 2016: Apply ColdFusion 2016 Update 15 or later (this addresses the deserialization vulnerability in Update 14 and earlier).
  4. 4. For ColdFusion 2018: Apply ColdFusion 2018 Update 3 or later (this addresses the July 12, 2018 release vulnerability).
  5. 5. Download the appropriate update from the Adobe ColdFusion downloads page (helpx.adobe.com).
  6. 6. Back up your ColdFusion instance and all applications before applying the update.
  7. 7. Apply the update following Adobe's installation instructions for your specific version.
  8. 8. After installation, restart the ColdFusion Application Server service.
Caveat Standard ColdFusion update - review Adobe's release notes for any deprecated features or configuration changes specific to your update

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2018-15959 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
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