CVE-2023-38205 | ColdFusion Bypass - Vulnerability disclosure in ColdFusion | BYPASS CVE-2023-29298

Exp

Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u18 (and earlier), 2021u8 (and earlier) and 2023u2 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Access Control vulnerability that could result in a Security feature bypass. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access the administration CFM and CFC endpoints. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.

Published: 2023-09-14 Last update: 2025-10-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-38205 is rated Critical Active Threat (90.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 94.31%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2023-07-20) affecting Adobe / ColdFusion. a weakness (CWE-284) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2023-38205

Name: Adobe ColdFusion Improper Access Control Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2023-07-20

Action due: 2023-08-10

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-38205

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-24 94.18% 94.31% +0.13%
2 2026-03-22 94.31% 94.18% -0.13%
3 2025-11-21 — 94.31% —

Full EPSS history (38 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-38205

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-38205

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-38205

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update10:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update11:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update12:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update13:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update14:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update15:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update16:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update18:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update4:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update5:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update6:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update7:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update8:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2018 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2018:update9:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update4:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update5:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update6:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update7:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2021 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2021:update8:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2023 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2023:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2023 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2023:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe coldfusion 2023 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:2023:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-38205

cvelogic Threat Intelligence