Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This ColdFusion flaw lets an unauthenticated network attacker bypass access controls and reach administrative CFM and CFC endpoints. The direct impact described is high confidentiality risk, not confirmed data change or outage. CISA lists it in KEV, so treat exposed ColdFusion administration surfaces as an urgent business risk.
Executive priority
High priority. CISA KEV status means this is not theoretical, and exposed ColdFusion administration paths could create sensitive-data exposure. Prioritize inventory, vendor remediation, and management-plane access reduction.
Technical view
CVE-2023-29298 is a CWE-284 improper access control issue in Adobe ColdFusion 2018u16 and earlier, 2021u6 and earlier, and 2023.0.0.330468 and earlier. CVSS 3.1 is 7.5: network exploitable, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, unchanged scope, high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Organizations running affected Adobe ColdFusion versions, especially internet-reachable servers or management endpoints, are most exposed. The source bundle does not identify specific deployment configurations beyond affected versions and access to administration CFM/CFC endpoints.
Exploitation context
Active exploitation is supported by CISA KEV listing. The provided sources do not include campaign details, exploit maturity, exploitation volume, or post-bypass actions, so those should not be assumed.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a remotely reachable, unauthenticated access-control bypass with confidentiality impact. The bundle does not provide exploit mechanics, indicators, or complete remediation text, so validation should focus on affected versions, admin endpoint exposure, and Adobe advisory compliance.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all Adobe ColdFusion instances and versions.
- Review Adobe APSB23-40 for vendor-approved updates or mitigations.
- Prioritize externally reachable ColdFusion servers first.
- Restrict administrative endpoint exposure to trusted networks where feasible.
- Monitor ColdFusion and web logs for abnormal admin endpoint access.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any instance matches the affected ColdFusion version ranges.
- Check whether administration CFM/CFC endpoints are reachable from untrusted networks.
- Verify applicable Adobe guidance has been applied.
- Review logs for unexpected access to administrative ColdFusion endpoints.
- Document compensating controls for any system not immediately remediated.
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-284: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. 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 lookupCVE-2023-29298 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
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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.
CISA KEV status
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:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N3.93.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb23-40.htmlCVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-29298CVE reference · government-resource
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.
Improper Access Control
Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.