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ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44352

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2021 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges

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 2023.5 (and earlier) and 2021.11 (and earlier) are affected by a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. If an unauthenticated attacker is able to convince a victim to visit a URL referencing a vulnerable page, malicious JavaScript content may be executed within the context of the victim's browser.

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 confidence

Adobe ColdFusion versions 2023.5 and earlier, and 2021.11 and earlier contain a reflected XSS vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker can craft a malicious URL containing JavaScript payload that executes in the victim's browser when they visit the vulnerable page.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security updates (ColdFusion 2023.6 and 2021.12 or later) to remediate this vulnerability. As a temporary control, implement URL filtering and input validation on upstream proxies to block malicious URL patterns.

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:< 2021= 2021= 2023

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify ColdFusion installation location and version
    Check the ColdFusion installation directory for version files. Common locations: {InstallDir}/lib/coldfusion-version.txt or check the ColdFusion Administrator interface (cfide/administrator) for the version displayed on the welcome or Settings page. Alternatively, create a simple CFML file with <cfoutput>#server.coldfusion.productVersion#</cfoutput> to display the version.
    Affected if The displayed version is 2021.11 or earlier for ColdFusion 2021, or 2023.5 or earlier for ColdFusion 2023.
  2. Verify the exact product version number
    Cross-reference the version number against Adobe's official version release notes. ColdFusion 2021 versions are in format 2021.x.x and ColdFusion 2023 versions are in format 2023.x.x. Confirm whether your build is less than 2021.12 or less than 2023.6.
    Affected if The exact version number falls below 2021.12 (for 2021 branch) or below 2023.6 (for 2023 branch).
  3. Confirm web server connector is configured
    Verify that ColdFusion is configured to handle HTTP requests through a web server (IIS, Apache) or its built-in web server. Check if the cfusion web root is accessible over HTTP and if URL parameters are processed by ColdFusion pages.
    Affected if ColdFusion is running and accessible via HTTP with the ability to process URL parameters in CFML pages.
  4. Test for reflected URL parameters (optional verification)
    Identify a CFML page that accepts URL parameters (for example, a search or query page). Append a test string like ?test=XYZ to the URL and view the page source to see if the value is reflected back without proper encoding. Use a harmless test payload to verify reflection occurs.
    Affected if URL parameter values are reflected in the HTML output without encoding or sanitization, indicating potential XSS vulnerability.

You are affected if your installed ColdFusion version is 2021.11 or earlier, or 2023.5 or earlier, and the application processes URL parameters that could reflect user input back to the browser.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2021 or later
Fixed in 2021
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security updates (ColdFusion 2023.6 and 2021.12 or later) to remediate this vulnerability. As a temporary control, implement URL filtering and input validation on upstream proxies to block malicious URL patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 2021.12 or later; ColdFusion 2023.6 or later

  1. Identify your current ColdFusion version by checking the Administrator console or installation
  2. For ColdFusion 2021: Upgrade to version 2021.12 or later to address the XSS vulnerability
  3. For ColdFusion 2023: Upgrade to version 2023.6 or later to address the XSS vulnerability
  4. After upgrading, verify the fix by testing the vulnerable endpoint to confirm the XSS payload is no longer executed
  5. Review other ColdFusion applications and endpoints for similar reflected XSS patterns
Caveat Review the ColdFusion upgrade documentation for any compatibility changes between versions, particularly if migrating from significantly older versions

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2023-44352 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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