dbcve.org
ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-15965

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 versions July 12 release (2018.0.0.310739), Update 6 and earlier versions for some releases, and Update 14 and earlier for others contain a deserialization vulnerability where untrusted data is deserialized without proper validation, allowing attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code on the affected server.

MitigationApply the available security patches from Adobe for this vulnerability. Organizations running affected versions should upgrade to the patched versions immediately, as this is a critical deserialization flaw with remote code execution capability.

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. Locate the ColdFusion administrator interface
    Access the ColdFusion Administrator at /CFIDE/administrator/ or check for cfusion/wwwroot/CFIDE/administrator/ directory on the web server
    Affected if The administrator interface is accessible indicates a ColdFusion installation that needs version checking
  2. Identify the installed ColdFusion version
    In the ColdFusion Administrator, go to 'Settings' > 'Settings Summary' or check the version.txt file in the ColdFusion installation root directory. The version typically displays as 11.0.x, 2016.x, or 2018.x
    Affected if Version is 11.0, 2016, or 2018 (or any update level within these major versions) without corresponding security patches applied
  3. Check applied updates and hotfixes
    In ColdFusion Administrator, navigate to 'Updates' or check the hotfix.xml file in the lib directory to see which updates have been installed
    Affected if Update 6 or earlier is installed on ColdFusion 11.0, or Update 14 or earlier is installed on versions 2016 or 2018, indicating the security patch is missing
  4. Verify the deserialization endpoint exposure
    Inspect the web application's exposed endpoints and Web Services (WSDL) files. The vulnerability stems from insecure deserialization via exposed Flash remoting or AMF endpoints
    Affected if Flash Remoting (AMF) endpoints or untrusted HTTP endpoints that accept serialized data are publicly accessible without authentication

A system is affected if it runs ColdFusion 11.0, 2016, or 2018 without the corresponding security patches applied (beyond Update 6 for 11.0 or beyond Update 14 for 2016/2018), and has exposed endpoints that accept 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 the available security patches from Adobe for this vulnerability. Organizations running affected versions should upgrade to the patched versions immediately, as this is a critical deserialization flaw with remote code execution capability.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 11 Update 7+ / ColdFusion 2016 Update 15+ / ColdFusion 2018 subsequent update (post July 12, 2018 release)

  1. 1. Identify your current ColdFusion installation version and update level
  2. 2. For ColdFusion 11: Apply Update 7 or later (hotfix for APSB18-33)
  3. 3. For ColdFusion 2016: Apply Update 15 or later (hotfix for APSB18-33)
  4. 4. For ColdFusion 2018: Apply the hotfix for APSB18-33 or later updates beyond the July 12, 2018 release (2018.0.0.310739)
  5. 5. After applying updates, restart the ColdFusion services
  6. 6. Verify the patch was applied by checking the ColdFusion Administrator > Settings > Version Information
Caveat Standard ColdFusion update - review release notes for any behavior changes in your specific version

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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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-2018-15965 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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