CVE-2023-38203Known exploitationPublic exploitNetwork attack vector

Unauthenticated code execution via WDDX setter invocation

Published Jul 20, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2025

Adobe ColdFusion 2018u17 and earlier, 2021u7 and earlier, and 2023u1 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. A pre-authentication CFC path passes an attacker-controlled WDDX argumentCollection to WDDXDeserialize, whose StructHandler reflectively instantiates a named Java class and invokes its one-argument setters. A crafted JdbcRowSetImpl object chains setDataSourceName and setAutoCommit to trigger a JNDI lookup and run code as the ColdFusion service account without user interaction.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability97.07%
Next 30 days · Nov 1, 2026
Known exploitationReported
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Adobe ColdFusion 2018u17 and earlier, 2021u7 and earlier, and 2023u1 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. A pre-authentication CFC path passes an attacker-controlled WDDX argumentCollection to WDDXDeserialize, whose StructHandler reflectively instantiates a named Java class and invokes its one-argument setters. A crafted JdbcRowSetImpl object chains setDataSourceName and setAutoCommit to trigger a JNDI lookup and run code as the ColdFusion service account without user interaction.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-38203
Published
Jul 20, 2023
Updated
Oct 21, 2025
Vendor
Adobe Inc.
Product
ColdFusion
Classifications
CWE-502, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 20, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 8, 2024Exploitation reportedCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog listing
  3. Oct 21, 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=0 <=cf2023U1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe Inc. · ColdFusionversion=0 <=cf2023U1

Published CVSS scores

9.8AdobeCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

Daily unique IPsShadowserver observations through Sep 28, 2026. Gaps indicate unavailable data.
Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
View daily counts
Reporting dayUnique IPs
Sep 22, 20267
Sep 23, 20262
Sep 24, 2026Unavailable
Sep 25, 20263
Sep 26, 20261
Sep 27, 20266
Sep 28, 20262
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPs2
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationReported
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Public exploit references

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

Reported exploitation

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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