Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects older Adobe ColdFusion 2016 and 2018 update levels. It is a DLL search-order hijacking issue that could let an attacker escalate privileges after getting a user interaction path. The main business risk is a compromised application server gaining higher local privileges.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for production ColdFusion servers, especially those supporting critical applications. Treat this as a high-severity server hardening and patching issue, not as confirmed active exploitation based on the supplied evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2020-9672 is CWE-426 in Adobe ColdFusion 2016 update 15 and earlier, and ColdFusion 2018 update 9 and earlier. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 high with local access, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations still running the affected ColdFusion update levels. Internet reachability alone does not prove exposure because the CVSS vector is local, but ColdFusion servers are high-value targets and should be inventoried carefully.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation, but the public bundle does not provide evidence of exploitation in the wild.
Researcher notes
Key constraints are local attack vector and required user interaction. The bundle identifies privilege escalation through DLL search-order hijacking but does not include exploit details, affected operating systems, or specific fixed build numbers beyond Adobe’s bulletin reference.
Mitigation direction
- Identify ColdFusion 2016 and 2018 instances and their installed update levels.
- Apply Adobe guidance in APSB20-43 for affected ColdFusion installations.
- Upgrade systems beyond the affected update levels where Adobe provides updates.
- Restrict interactive and file-write access on ColdFusion servers.
- Review service account privileges and reduce unnecessary local administrative rights.
Validation and detection
- Confirm no ColdFusion 2016 instance is at update 15 or earlier.
- Confirm no ColdFusion 2018 instance is at update 9 or earlier.
- Check change records against Adobe APSB20-43 remediation guidance.
- Review ColdFusion server directories for unexpected writable paths or DLL files.
- Validate service accounts run with only required privileges.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-426: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-9672 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb20-43.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Untrusted Search Path
Untrusted Search Path represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.