CVE-2023-38203
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 versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability that could result in Arbitrary code execution. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
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 2018u17 and earlier, 2021u7 and earlier, and 2023u1 and earlier are vulnerable to insecure deserialization where untrusted data is deserialized without proper validation, allowing an attacker to inject malicious serialized objects that execute arbitrary code on the server. No authentication or user interaction is required.
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= 2018= 2021= 2023CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check ColdFusion version via administrator interfaceLog in to the ColdFusion Administrator (typically at /cfadmin or /cfide/administrator) and locate the version information on the welcome or settings page. Note the exact version number and update level (e.g., 2018u17, 2021u7, 2023u1).Affected if The version shown is 2018 update 17 or earlier, 2021 update 7 or earlier, or 2023 update 1 or earlier.
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Check ColdFusion version via welcome page or error messagesAccess the ColdFusion welcome page (the root URL of the ColdFusion server) and look for the version displayed in the footer or server information section.Affected if The displayed version falls within the affected ranges listed above.
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Check version via command line or installerIf command line access is available, run the ColdFusion installer with version checking flags or inspect the installer log files for the installed version details.Affected if The version identified matches ColdFusion 2018u17 or earlier, 2021u7 or earlier, or 2023u1 or earlier.
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Verify ColdFusion Administrator accessibilityConfirm that the ColdFusion Administrator interface is accessible over the network. Try accessing /cfadmin or /cfide/administrator on the server.Affected if The Administrator is reachable and the server version is within the affected ranges, making exploitation possible.
The server is affected if it runs ColdFusion 2018 update 17 or earlier, 2021 update 7 or earlier, or 2023 update 1 or earlier, and the server is network-accessible without requiring authentication for the vulnerable endpoint.
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 vendor-supplied security patches (update to ColdFusion 2018u18+, 2021u8+, or 2023u2+) and ensure web-facing ColdFusion servers are not exposed to untrusted networks.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,216.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38203 — 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-2023-38203 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