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ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-43563

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
ColdFusion versions 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 and earlier are affected by an Improper Access Control vulnerability that could result in arbitrary file system read. A high-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access or modify sensitive data without proper authorization. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction, and scope is changed.

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

ColdFusion versions 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 and earlier contain an improper access control vulnerability allowing high-privileged attackers to read arbitrary files from the filesystem without user interaction. The scope is changed, indicating the vulnerability can impact components beyond the vulnerable component itself.

MitigationApply the vendor-released patches for ColdFusion 2025.1, 2023.13, and 2021.19 to address the access control weakness. Until patches are applied, restrict administrative access to trusted users only and monitor for unauthorized file access attempts.

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= 2023= 2025

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 installed ColdFusion version
    Log into the ColdFusion Administrator console and navigate to the Settings or System Information page to view the exact version and build number. Alternatively, check the version info via the cfadmin tag or the lib/coldfusion.jar file in the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version is 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19, or any earlier version of ColdFusion 2021, 2023, or 2025.
  2. Confirm administrative interface accessibility
    Verify whether the ColdFusion Administrator console (/CFIDE/administrator/) is accessible from the network or internet. Check web server configuration and firewall rules for exposure of the admin endpoints.
    Affected if The admin interface is exposed to untrusted networks, as the vulnerability requires a high-privileged attacker to exploit the improper access control.
  3. Review file read access patterns
    Examine ColdFusion logs (in the logs directory) and web server access logs for unusual or unauthorized file read requests, especially those using file:// protocols or accessing system directories outside the web root.
    Affected if Unexpected file access attempts or read operations on sensitive filesystem paths appear in the logs, indicating potential exploitation attempts.

You are affected if your ColdFusion installation is version 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 or earlier, and the administrator interface is accessible to untrusted users.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-released patches for ColdFusion 2025.1, 2023.13, and 2021.19 to address the access control weakness. Until patches are applied, restrict administrative access to trusted users only and monitor for unauthorized file access attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 2021.20+, ColdFusion 2023.14+, or ColdFusion 2025.2+ (depending on your baseline version)

  1. 1. Back up your current ColdFusion installation, including the cfusion directory and all configuration files.
  2. 2. Stop the ColdFusion Application Server service.
  3. 3. Download the latest ColdFusion installer from the Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/downloads.html).
  4. 4. For ColdFusion 2021: Upgrade to version 2021.20 or later.
  5. 5. For ColdFusion 2023: Upgrade to version 2023.14 or later.
  6. 6. For ColdFusion 2025: Upgrade to version 2025.2 or later.
  7. 7. Run the installer and follow the upgrade installation prompts.
  8. 8. After installation, verify that the ColdFusion Administrator is accessible and all services are running.
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply: back up custom code, scripts, and configurations; test applications for compatibility with the new version; review migration guides for any deprecated features

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

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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-2025-43563 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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