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ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44353

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2021 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 an 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 confidence

Adobe ColdFusion versions 2023.5 and earlier, and 2021.11 and earlier contain a deserialization vulnerability where untrusted data is insecurely deserialized, allowing remote unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious serialized objects that execute arbitrary code on the target system without any user interaction.

MitigationUpgrade ColdFusion to the latest patched version (2023.6 or later for the 2023 track, and 2021.12 or later for the 2021 track). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to ColdFusion endpoints and monitor for indicators of compromise.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify ColdFusion installation and version
    Check the ColdFusion administrator interface (usually at /cfadmin or /CFIDE/administrator) or inspect the version file in the ColdFusion installation directory. The version is typically displayed on the ColdFusion Administrator welcome page.
    Affected if The installed version is ColdFusion 2021.11 or earlier, or ColdFusion 2023.5 or earlier.
  2. Confirm the ColdFusion service is network-accessible
    Determine if the ColdFusion web server connector (port 8500 by default, or port 80/443 if using IIS/Apache) is exposed to untrusted networks. Check firewall rules and network ACLs for inbound access to ColdFusion ports.
    Affected if ColdFusion HTTP/HTTPS endpoints are reachable from untrusted or external networks.
  3. Review exposed ColdFusion endpoints
    Identify which ColdFusion endpoints are listening. Common endpoints include the CFIDE directory, Web Services (WSDL), and any custom CFML endpoints. Check the server's listening ports and virtual host configurations.
    Affected if Any ColdFusion endpoints accept unauthenticated HTTP requests from untrusted sources.
  4. Check for indicators of exploitation
    Review web server access logs and ColdFusion logs for suspicious patterns such as unusual serialized data in POST bodies, repeated requests to endpoints with serialized objects, or unexpected code execution indicators.

You are affected if you are running ColdFusion 2021.11 or earlier or ColdFusion 2023.5 or earlier, and your ColdFusion service is accessible over the network to unauthenticated attackers.

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

Upgrade ColdFusion to the latest patched version (2023.6 or later for the 2023 track, and 2021.12 or later for the 2021 track). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to ColdFusion endpoints and monitor for indicators of compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 2021 Update 12+ or ColdFusion 2023 Update 6+

  1. Identify your current ColdFusion version by checking the ColdFusion Administrator or the version number displayed
  2. For ColdFusion 2021: Upgrade to version 2021.12 or later by applying the latest ColdFusion 2021 update from helpx.adobe.com
  3. For ColdFusion 2023: Upgrade to version 2023.6 or later by applying the latest ColdFusion 2023 update from helpx.adobe.com
  4. After upgrading, verify the new version in ColdFusion Administrator to confirm the patch was applied successfully
  5. Review application code for any custom deserialization implementations and ensure they do not process untrusted data
Caveat Standard ColdFusion update considerations apply - test custom tags, components, and integrations in a staging environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,880
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,008.

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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-2023-44353 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