CVE-2018-4942
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 Unsafe XML External Entity Processing 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 · high confidenceAdobe ColdFusion versions Update 5 and earlier, and Update 13 and earlier for ColdFusion 11, contain an Unsafe XML External Entity (XXE) Processing vulnerability. The XML parser fails to restrict external entity references, allowing attackers to craft malicious XML input that can read local files or conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks, leading to information disclosure.
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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Verify ColdFusion versionAccess the ColdFusion Administrator dashboard and locate the version information, typically found on the landing page or in the 'Server Settings' > 'ColdFusion Administrator' section. Alternatively, check the version file in the ColdFusion installation directory.Affected if The installed version is ColdFusion 11.0 with Update 5 or earlier, or ColdFusion 2016 with Update 13 or earlier.
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Identify XML parser usageSearch your application code and configuration for usage of XML parsing functions such as XmlParse(), XmlNew(), or consumption of XML-based Web Services (WSDL). Review any endpoints that accept XML input.Affected if The environment uses XmlParse(), XML Web Services, or processes XML from untrusted sources.
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Check for XXE-vulnerable XML configurationsInspect XML parser settings in the ColdFusion Administrator under 'Server Settings' > 'Settings' or within the underlying Java application server configuration (typically in neo-xml.xml or similar configuration files).Affected if External entity processing is not explicitly disabled or restricted in the XML parser configuration.
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Review file upload or import featuresAudit any ColdFusion applications that accept file uploads, XML imports, or data ingestion from external sources that may be processed as XML.Affected if The application accepts XML files or data from users or external systems without validation.
A user is affected if they run ColdFusion 11.0 (Update 5 or earlier) or ColdFusion 2016 (Update 13 or earlier) AND have XML processing functionality enabled or accept XML input from users.
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 Adobe ColdFusion security updates (Update 6 for older versions, Update 14 for ColdFusion 11) which patch the unsafe XML parser. If immediate patching is not possible, disable or restrict XML external entity processing in the application server configuration.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4942 — 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-2018-4942 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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- 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