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CVE-2023-38203· NVD / CVE Program· CNA adobe

Analysis CVE-2023-29300 Bypass: Adobe ColdFusion Pre-Auth RCE

Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability that could result in Arbitrary code execution. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
Jul 20, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
97.1% · 100th percentile
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Report tools

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Action score

98

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
29 / 30 · 97.1%

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 Jan 8, 2024. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: Jan 29, 2024.

Known to be used in ransomware campaigns.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
adobecoldfusion

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
  • adobe coldfusion2023

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

    • up to and including cf2023U1affected · semver

Same product

adobe: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2023-29300Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data Arbitrary code executionKEV
    99Now
  • 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 uploaKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2010-2861Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in the administrator console in Adobe ColdFusion 9.0.1 and earlier allow remote attackers to reKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2013-0632administrator.cfc in Adobe ColdFusion 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.0.2, and 10 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and possibly execute arbitrKEV
    97Now
  • CVE-2013-0625Adobe ColdFusion 9.0, 9.0.1, and 9.0.2, when a password is not configured, allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and possibly exeKEV
    97Now
  • CVE-2017-3066Adobe ColdFusion 2016 Update 3 and earlier, ColdFusion 11 update 11 and earlier, ColdFusion 10 Update 22 and earlier have a Java deserializaKEV
    96Now

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.

Evidence

  • Nuclei detection template ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2023-38203 —

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.

  1. Published
  2. CISA KEV+171 d
  3. TodaySep 29, 2026+1167 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

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 researchers

Finders, 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

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

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 Data

CVSS 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 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)job = pickle.loads(payload)

Fixed

python
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.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records