Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2022-38418 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Adobe ColdFusion versions Update 14 and earlier, along with Update 4 and earlier, are affected by a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) that allows improper limitation of pathnames to restricted directories. The issue carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 and can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the flaw over the network without any user interaction or credentials, achieving remote code execution on the target system.
The Adobe security advisory at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb22-44.html details the affected releases and provides mitigation guidance along with patch availability for ColdFusion installations.
The associated EPSS score is 0.3124 at both current and peak values, indicating no material rise after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-41003
Vulnerability Data
Adobe ColdFusion versions Update 14 (and earlier) and Update 4 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the…
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current user. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI
Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly blocks the path-traversal payload by validating and sanitizing user-supplied pathnames before they reach the restricted directory logic in ColdFusion.
Enforces pathname-based access restrictions so that unauthenticated requests cannot traverse outside the intended directories to execute arbitrary code.
Requires prompt application of the ColdFusion patches listed in APSB22-44, eliminating the vulnerable code path entirely.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.