CVE-2020-3761
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 · uneditedColdFusion versions ColdFusion 2016, and ColdFusion 2018 have a remote file read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary file read from the coldfusion install directory.
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 confidenceColdFusion 2016 and 2018 contain a remote file read vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to read arbitrary files from the ColdFusion installation directory. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied input in a web-facing component.
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= 2016= 2018CVSS 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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Identify installed ColdFusion versionAccess the ColdFusion Administrator console (usually at /CFIDE/administrator/) and check the version displayed on the login page or within the Server Settings > Enterprise Manager. Alternatively, check the version.ini file in the ColdFusion installation directory (e.g., {install-dir}/cfusion/lib/version.ini)Affected if The installed version matches ColdFusion 2016 (any update) or ColdFusion 2018 (any update)
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Verify web-facing access to ColdFusion endpointsCheck if the ColdFusion web root (typically /CFIDE/ or /CFIDE/adminapi/) is exposed to untrusted networks. Use a browser or curl to request http://<your-server>/CFIDE/adminapi/ and confirm the path responds or is reachable from external IPsAffected if The /CFIDE/adminapi/ endpoint is accessible from untrusted/network-facing interfaces without IP restriction
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Confirm administrator authentication is not enforced on vulnerable endpointTest accessing the adminapi directly without credentials: curl -v http://<server>/CFIDE/adminapi/base.cfc?method=getAppDir. If the request does not immediately redirect to a login page or return a 401/403 error, the endpoint may be unauthenticatedAffected if The adminapi endpoint responds without requiring authentication
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Check for existing IP restrictions on ColdFusion admin interfacesReview web server configuration (IIS web.config, Apache .htaccess, or Tomcat server.xml) or ColdFusion Administrator security settings for rules restricting /CFIDE/ paths to allowed IP addresses onlyAffected if No IP allowlisting or firewall rules are configured to restrict access to ColdFusion administrative paths
You are affected if ColdFusion 2016 or 2018 is installed AND the /CFIDE/adminapi/ endpoint is accessible from untrusted networks without authentication or IP restrictions.
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 relevant Adobe security patch for CVE-2020-3761 to both ColdFusion 2016 and 2018 installations. Restrict network access to ColdFusion administrative interfaces using firewall rules or IP allowlisting as an interim control.
- Consultation2.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3761 — 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-2020-3761 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
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