Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-26361 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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 2018 Update 15 and earlier, along with 2021 Update 5 and earlier, are affected by a path traversal vulnerability tracked as CWE-22. The flaw permits arbitrary file system reads and carries a CVSS 4.9 rating reflecting network accessibility, low attack complexity, and high confidentiality impact when successfully exploited.
An authenticated administrator can leverage the issue without user interaction to read arbitrary files on the server. No other privileges or special conditions are required beyond the administrative account.
Adobe published mitigation guidance and patch information in advisory APSB23-25, available at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb23-25.html.
The associated EPSS score rose from a lower baseline to a peak of 0.3213 on 2025-12-11 before receding to the current value of 0.1289, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-30182
Vulnerability Data
Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018 Update 15 (and earlier) and 2021 Update 5 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability that could result in Arbitrary file system read. Exploitation of…
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this issue does not require user interaction, but does require administrator privileges.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.
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.