Adobe ColdFusion WDDX deserialization leading to RCE
CVE-2023-44353 affects Adobe ColdFusion 2023 Update 5 and earlier and ColdFusion 2021 Update 11 and earlier. It is a deserialization of untrusted data issue in ColdFusion's WDDX handling and is described as an incomplete mitigation of prior WDDX deserialization flaws. Research indicates Adobe's deny-list-based serialfilter.txt controls left additional reachable classes and methods available for abuse. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send crafted requests to exposed ColdFusion endpoints such as /CFIDE/wizards/common/utils.cfc?method=wizardHash with malicious WDDX input to invoke gadget-like behaviors through public zero-argument constructors and public non-static setter methods that accept one argument. Reported reachable methods include coldfusion.tagext.net.LdapTag.setClientCert, coldfusion.tagext.io.cache.CacheTag.setDirectory, and coldfusion.centralconfig.client.CentralConfigClientUtil.setClusterName/setEnv. Adobe's advisory states the vulnerability could result in arbitrary code execution without user interaction. Supporting research also demonstrated related impacts including file and directory existence probing, outbound HTTP/HTTPS HEAD and anonymous FTP requests, JAR/ZIP path enumeration, SMB authentication coercion, and unauthorized modification of Central Config Server settings.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
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Impact
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Mitigation
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Remediation
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Exploits
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No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
Affected products & vendors
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Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
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A remote code execution vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion, enabling attackers to run arbitrary code on affected servers.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion, exploited in a coordinated campaign.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion, exploited in a coordinated campaign.
A vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion exploited as part of a coordinated campaign for code execution, credential harvesting, and JNDI lookups.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.