{"id":"CVE-2023-38203","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2023-38203"],"related":[],"title":"Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a…","description":"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.","summary":"Adobe ColdFusion has a deserialization flaw that handles untrusted data unsafely, letting an attacker run code on the server. CISA lists it as actively exploited, with ransomware use noted in its catalog tags.","severity":"critical","cvss":9.8,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2024-01-08T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Adobe ColdFusion","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"adobe coldfusion","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2018","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"adobe coldfusion","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2021","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"adobe coldfusion","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2023","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["adobe-coldfusion","exploited","ransomware","runtime","self-hosted"],"not_affected_if":["unknown"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply the mitigations and patches per Adobe's vendor instructions; if mitigations are unavailable, discontinue use of the product (per CISA required action).","status":"open","published_at":"2023-07-20T16:15:12+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:02:36+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","category":"runtime","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:02:36Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply the mitigations and patches per Adobe's vendor instructions; if mitigations are unavailable, discontinue use of the product (per CISA required action).\nunknown","reach":"unknown","impact":"high","summary":"Adobe ColdFusion has a deserialization flaw that handles untrusted data unsafely, letting an attacker run code on the server. CISA lists it as actively exploited, with ransomware use noted in its catalog tags.","category":"runtime","who_cares":["adobe-coldfusion","self-hosted"],"confidence":0.6,"needs_auth":"unknown","worst_case":"Attacker runs code on the ColdFusion server, possibly deploying ransomware.","analyst_note":"Find the affected and fixed ColdFusion versions and the exact mitigation steps in Adobe's advisory (APSB23-47) and check the exposure conditions for how_to_check.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["unknown"],"user_interaction":"unknown","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"critical"},"cost_usd":0.000473,"input_tokens":2811,"output_tokens":383,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2023':17A,20A '-38203':18A,21A '2018u17':4A,75C '2021u7':7A,78C '2023u1':11A,82C 'activ':62B 'adob':1A,31B,39B,72C 'adobe':22A,24A,26A,28A 'adobe-coldfus':30B 'affect':15A,86C 'arbitrari':98C 'attack':52B 'catalog':70B 'cisa':58B 'code':54B,99C 'coldfus':2A,32B,40B,73C 'coldfusion':23A,25A,27A,29A 'could':95C 'cve':16A,19A 'data':48B,92C 'deseri':43B,89C 'earlier':6A,9A,13A,77C,80C,84C 'execut':100C 'exploit':33B,63B,101C 'flaw':44B 'handl':46B 'host':38B 'interact':109C 'issu':104C 'let':50B 'list':59B 'note':67B 'ransomwar':34B,65B 'requir':107C 'result':96C 'run':53B 'runtim':35B 'self':37B 'self-host':36B 'server':57B 'tag':71B 'unsaf':49B 'untrust':47B,91C 'use':66B 'user':108C 'version':3A,74C 'vulner':93C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2023-07-20T16:15:12+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2024-01-08","dueDate":"2024-01-29","requiredAction":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Known"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"psirt@adobe.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2023-38203","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2023-38203","severity":null,"published_at":"2024-01-08T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T11:39:15+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2023-38203","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38203","severity":null,"published_at":"2023-07-20T16:15:12+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T06:09:39+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}