CVE-2023-26359: Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data Arbitrary code execution
Noroxi assessment
Priority: This week (action score 74/100)
- CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Aug 21, 2023). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Sep 11, 2023.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 16.9% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 97% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS
Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018 Update 15 (and earlier) and 2021 Update 5 (and earlier) are affected by a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
- Published
- Mar 23, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 16.9% · 97th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-502
Report tools
Action score
74
This week
Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 30 / 30 · Listed
- EPSS
- 5 / 30 · 16.9%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- active
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · adobe
- 9.8
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Actively exploited in the wild
CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Aug 21, 2023. That signals real attacks, not theory.
Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Sep 11, 2023.
Get told when this record changes
- In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
- Weaponized exploit exists
- No fixed version yet
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| adobe | coldfusion | cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- adobe coldfusion2018
- adobe coldfusion2021
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (adobe). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Adobe ColdFusion
- unspecified and later · up to and including CF2018U15, CF2021U5affected
- unspecified and later · up to and including Noneaffected
Same product
adobe: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2023-29300Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data Arbitrary code executionKEV99Now
- CVE-2018-15961Adobe ColdFusion versions July 12 release (2018.0.0.310739), Update 6 and earlier, and Update 14 and earlier have an unrestricted file uploaKEV99Now
- CVE-2010-2861Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in the administrator console in Adobe ColdFusion 9.0.1 and earlier allow remote attackers to reKEV99Now
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2022-42340Oct 14, 2022 · Adobe ColdFusion Improper Input Validation Arbitrary file system read40Plan
- ← EarlierCVE-2022-42341Oct 14, 2022 · Adobe ColdFusion Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference Arbitrary file system read41Plan
- Later →CVE-2023-26360Mar 23, 2023 · Adobe ColdFusion Improper Access Control Arbitrary code executionKEV93Now
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
Weaponized
A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
- Published
- CISA KEV+150 d
- TodayNov 7, 2026+1325 d
No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted DataCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-secondary
Root cause
Data received over the network is deserialized into the language’s native object format without verifying its source. Code paths inside the object can be triggered during deserialization.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-502 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
payload = sock.recv(65536)
job = pickle.loads(payload)Fixed
payload = sock.recv(65536)
if not hmac.compare_digest(sign(payload), header_sig):
raise PermissionError("invalid signature")
job = JobSchema.validate(json.loads(payload))Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
—
Change log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Show all references (1 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.