dbcve.org
ColdfusionApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-61821

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
ColdFusion versions 2025.4, 2023.16, 2021.22 and earlier are affected by an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference ('XXE') vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary file system read. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive files and data on the server. Exploit depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. 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 · moderate confidence

ColdFusion versions 2025.4, 2023.16, 2021.22 and earlier contain an XXE vulnerability allowing attackers to submit malicious XML that instructs the parser to load external entities, potentially reading arbitrary files from the server filesystem. The changed scope indicates the vulnerability can impact components beyond the ColdFusion installation itself.

MitigationApply Adobe's ColdFusion security patches for versions 2025.4, 2023.16, and 2021.22 to address the XXE vulnerability, or configure XML parsers to disable external entity processing as a compensating control.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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 ColdFusion installation version
    Check the ColdFusion administrator interface (typically at /cfide/administrator/) or check the version file in the ColdFusion installation directory. The version information is also often available in the ColdFusion administrator dashboard under 'Server Settings' or 'About ColdFusion'.
    Affected if The installed version is 2021 any release, 2023 any release, or 2025 any release, particularly if it is 2025.4, 2023.16, 2021.22 or earlier.
  2. Locate XML-handling functionality
    Search the ColdFusion application for components that process XML input, including XML upload endpoints, XML import features, or any functionality that accepts XML documents. Review the application's codebase for tags such as <cfxml>, XmlParse(), or similar XML processing functions.
    Affected if The environment contains XML processing features that accept user-supplied or external XML input.
  3. Inspect XML parser configuration
    Examine the ColdFusion server XML parser settings and any custom XML parsing configurations. Look for how XmlHttpRequest or other XML-related objects are configured, particularly focusing on whether external entity processing is explicitly allowed or disabled.
    Affected if The XML parser configuration allows external entity resolution or does not explicitly disable external entity processing.
  4. Test for XXE vulnerability with safe probe
    If you have a test environment, submit a benign XXE probe XML payload to identified XML endpoints to verify whether external entity resolution occurs. The probe would attempt to reference an external entity pointing to a local file or internal resource.
    Affected if The XML endpoints successfully resolve external entities and return content from internal resources that should not be accessible.

Your ColdFusion installation is affected if it is version 2021, 2023, or 2025 and contains XML processing functionality that accepts external XML input with external entity resolution enabled.

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 Adobe's ColdFusion security patches for versions 2025.4, 2023.16, and 2021.22 to address the XXE vulnerability, or configure XML parsers to disable external entity processing as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

ColdFusion 2021.23, 2023.17, or 2025.5 (or later)

  1. Upgrade ColdFusion 2021 to version 2021.23 or later
  2. Upgrade ColdFusion 2023 to version 2023.17 or later
  3. Upgrade ColdFusion 2025 to version 2025.5 or later
  4. After upgrading, verify that XML parsing functions no longer accept untrusted external entity references
  5. Test that XML-dependent functionality still works correctly after the update

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

Fix this in Coldfusion Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2025-61821 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
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