Adobe ColdFusion: file access flaw under attack

What is affected

Adobe ColdFusion is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.

Adobe ColdFusion contains a path traversal vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

What an attacker can do

This is a file access flaw. It lets an attacker read or write files they should never reach, such as configuration files that hold passwords, or upload a malicious file that the system then runs.

How it is reached

Over the internet or network

Access the attacker needs

No account needed

Does the victim have to do something?

No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

1. At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
2. If you administer Adobe ColdFusion at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
3. If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.

Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

Vendor advisories and fixes

• helpx.adobe.comhelpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb26-68.html

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on July 7, 2026, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by July 10, 2026, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 42% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 10.0 out of 10 (critical), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

ColdFusion versions 2025.9, 2023.20 and earlier are affected by an Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction. Scope is changed.