CVE-2023-38203
CRITICALCVE-2023-38203 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in adobe coldfusion. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2024-01-08) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. O3 Security detects and blocks CVE-2023-38203 exploitation at runtime via eBPF exploit-chain detection and L7 egress monitoring, even on unpatched systems.
Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability that could result in…
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-01-08 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2024-01-29.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2023-38203.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-38203 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 368,770 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Description
Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability that could result in Arbitrary code execution. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
Affected Products
coldfusionadobeResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Vendor / applianceDetect
Inventory every adobe coldfusion deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above. Because the exploit targets the running system rather than your application code, also watch for remote code execution at the network and runtime layer — O3 flags the exploit behaviour from runtime telemetry and egress traffic even before a vulnerable build is confirmed.
Remediation status
No patch has shipped for CVE-2023-38203 yet — track the adobe coldfusion advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
Cut exposure now: restrict the management/admin interface to trusted networks, segment the device, and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations and any WAF/IPS signature. O3's runtime protection blocks the exploit chain at execution, holding the line on unpatched or end-of-life systems until you can patch.
How O3 protects you
O3 detects and blocks CVE-2023-38203 exploitation at runtime: eBPF exploit-chain detection, plus L7 egress monitoring that catches the post-exploitation callback and severs the attacker's outbound channel.
Tailored to CVE-2023-38203. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-38203 being exploited in your environment?
O3's eBPF runtime sensors and L7 egress monitoring detect and block the CVE-2023-38203 exploit chain at execution — protecting unpatched and end-of-life systems until the vendor patch is applied.