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ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-49544

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 and earlier are affected by an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference ('XXE') vulnerability that could result in a Security feature bypass. A high-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access sensitive information or bypass security measures. 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 2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 and earlier contain an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE) vulnerability. This allows a high-privileged attacker to exploit improper XML parsing to access sensitive information or bypass security measures. The vulnerability requires no user interaction and involves a scope change, potentially affecting resources beyond the vulnerable component.

MitigationApply the vendor security patches for the affected ColdFusion versions (2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 and earlier) as soon as possible to remediate the XXE vulnerability.

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 checks

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

  1. Identify your ColdFusion version
    Locate the ColdFusion administrator interface or check the version file included with your installation. In the admin panel, the version is typically displayed on the main dashboard or in the 'System Information' section.
    Affected if The installed version is 2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 or any earlier version of those respective releases.
  2. Confirm XML parser usage
    Identify any ColdFusion components, applications, or endpoints that process XML input. Review your codebase for functions such as XmlParse, XmlSearch, or any custom XML handling logic that processes user-supplied or external XML data.
    Affected if XML parsing functionality is actively used and processes data from untrusted or external sources.
  3. Verify network accessibility
    Determine if the ColdFusion server is directly accessible from the network. Check firewall rules, load balancer configurations, and the server's network binding settings to assess exposure.
    Affected if The ColdFusion instance is accessible over the network to high-privileged attackers who can send XML requests.
  4. Review XML external entity settings
    Inspect the underlying XML parser configuration or any custom XML security settings within your ColdFusion environment. Look for configurations that control how external entities are processed.
    Affected if The XML parser is configured to allow external entity resolution or does not have XXE protection explicitly disabled.

Your environment is affected if you are running ColdFusion 2021, 2023, or 2025 at the versions specified (2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 or earlier) and the server processes XML data from network-accessible endpoints.

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 security patches for the affected ColdFusion versions (2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 and earlier) as soon as possible to remediate the XXE vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ColdFusion 2021.21+ / 2023.15+ / 2025.3+ (latest available version for your respective release)

  1. 1. Identify your current ColdFusion installation version (2021, 2023, or 2025)
  2. 2. For ColdFusion 2021: Upgrade to version 2021.21 or later
  3. 3. For ColdFusion 2023: Upgrade to version 2023.15 or later
  4. 4. For ColdFusion 2025: Upgrade to version 2025.3 or later
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the XXE vulnerability is resolved by reviewing Adobe ColdFusion security bulletins
  6. 6. Test that existing ColdFusion applications function correctly after the upgrade
Caveat Standard AdobeColdFusion patch upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes but review release notes for any deprecation notices

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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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-2025-49544 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