CVE-2022-38420Network attack vector

Unauthenticated service interruption via hard-coded credentials

Published Oct 14, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Hard-coded credentials in Adobe ColdFusion 2018 Update 14 and earlier or 2021 Update 4 and earlier allow remote attackers to interrupt services. Embedded credentials grant access to start or stop arbitrary services, but Adobe has not disclosed the credential locus or request path. No authentication or user interaction is required, and successful exploitation interrupts the application without reported data disclosure or modification.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability44.02%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Hard-coded credentials in Adobe ColdFusion 2018 Update 14 and earlier or 2021 Update 4 and earlier allow remote attackers to interrupt services. Embedded credentials grant access to start or stop arbitrary services, but Adobe has not disclosed the credential locus or request path. No authentication or user interaction is required, and successful exploitation interrupts the application without reported data disclosure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-38420
Published
Oct 14, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Adobe
Product
ColdFusion
Classifications
CWE-798, T1489
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 14, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=CF2018u14
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=CF2021U4
  3. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe · ColdFusionversion=unspecified <=CF2018u14; version=unspecified <=CF2021U4; version=unspecified <=None

Published CVSS scores

7.5Adobe Systems IncorporatedCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-798Use of Hard-coded Credentials
T1489Service Stop

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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