CVE-2018-4940
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 Update 5 and earlier versions, ColdFusion 11 Update 13 and earlier versions have an exploitable Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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 · moderate confidenceAdobe ColdFusion versions 11 (Update 13 and earlier) and 2016 (Update 5 and earlier) contain a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript through unsanitized input parameters in affected ColdFusion endpoints, potentially stealing session cookies, credentials, or other sensitive information from users who interact with crafted links.
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= 11.0= 2016CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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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Check ColdFusion version via Administrator consoleLog into the ColdFusion Administrator (typically at /cfide/administrator/) and navigate to the Settings or About page to view the exact version and update number installedAffected if The version shown is ColdFusion 11 with Update 13 or earlier, or ColdFusion 2016 with Update 5 or earlier
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Check version via version.xml fileLocate and read the version.xml file in the ColdFusion installation directory (commonly at {coldfusion-root}/lib/version.xml or in the cfusion/lib folder)Affected if The version element in the XML shows 11.0.x (where x is 13 or lower) or indicates ColdFusion 2016 with update number 5 or lower
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Compare installed version against CVE-affected rangesDocument the full version string including update level (for example: 11,0,13,xxxxxx or 2016,0,5,xxxxxx) and compare against the vulnerable ranges: ColdFusion 11 up to and including Update 13, and ColdFusion 2016 up to and including Update 5Affected if The installed version falls within or below these update thresholds
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Verify ColdFusion updates appliedCheck the {coldfusion-root}/cfusion/lib/updates/ directory for installed update files, or review the update log in the Administrator under the Updates sectionAffected if No update files for Update 14 (for ColdFusion 11) or Update 6 (for ColdFusion 2016) are present or marked as installed
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Identify exposed ColdFusion endpointsReview web-accessible ColdFusion endpoints (.cfm, .cfc files) that accept user input via URL parameters, particularly search functions, form handlers, or parameter-driven pagesAffected if Unsanitized input parameters in these endpoints could be exploited for reflected XSS attacks
You are affected if ColdFusion 11 (any update up to 13) or ColdFusion 2016 (any update up to 5) is installed, as these versions contain the vulnerable unsanitized input handling in certain endpoints.
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 dataApply the appropriate ColdFusion updates (ColdFusion 11 Update 14+ and ColdFusion 2016 Update 6+) to patch the XSS vulnerability. Additionally, implement output encoding and input validation on application endpoints as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4940 — 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-2018-4940 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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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.
- 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