Threats / Adobe / CVE-2023-38205
CVE-2023-38205
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability
Adobe ColdFusion contains an improper access control vulnerability enabling bypass of security features, allowing unauthorized access to protected resources or functionality.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
This improper access control flaw in ColdFusion permits attackers to circumvent security mechanisms and gain unauthorized access. Active exploitation in the wild combined with a high EPSS score indicates significant risk to unpatched deployments.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
312 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-07-20).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.99732 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Adobe, ColdFusion. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-284 Improper Access Control — weakness family: Authorization / access control.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I identify that ColdFusion's access control mechanisms can be bypassed through this vulnerability.
Business
Unauthorized access to application functionality and data exposes the organization to data theft, system compromise, and operational disruption.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the access control weakness to reach protected administrative or application features without proper authentication or authorization.
Business
Attackers gain control over critical application functions, enabling lateral movement, privilege escalation, and potential full system compromise.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I leverage this access to extract sensitive data, modify configurations, or deploy malicious payloads within the ColdFusion environment.
Business
Data breaches, intellectual property theft, and system integrity violations result in regulatory penalties, customer trust erosion, and remediation costs.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05