CVE-2020-9673 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting Adobe ColdFusion 2016 (update 15 and earlier) and ColdFusion 2018 (update 9 and earlier). The issue is a DLL search-order hijacking vulnerability (CWE-426), where an attacker can exploit the way the ColdFusion service loads DLLs. Specifically, the application does not securely specify the full path to required DLLs, allowing an attacker to place a malicious DLL in a location that is searched before the legitimate DLL. When ColdFusion loads the malicious DLL, it executes the attacker's code with elevated privileges. This vulnerability can lead to privilege escalation, enabling an attacker with limited access or user interaction to gain higher system privileges. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.8 (high), with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating local attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, but user interaction is needed. Successful exploitation impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability severely. Although no known exploits are reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the widespread use of ColdFusion in enterprise web applications and backend services. The vulnerability was published in July 2020, and no official patch links are provided in the data, suggesting organizations may need to verify patch availability directly from Adobe or apply workarounds to mitigate risk.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be substantial. Adobe ColdFusion is widely used in enterprise environments for building and deploying web applications and APIs. Exploitation could allow attackers to escalate privileges on servers running ColdFusion, potentially leading to full system compromise. This can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, disruption of critical business services, and the ability to deploy further malware or ransomware. Given the high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact, organizations handling personal data under GDPR could face regulatory and reputational damage if exploited. The requirement for local access and user interaction somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where users might be tricked into executing malicious files or where attackers have some foothold. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not preclude targeted attacks, especially against high-value targets in finance, government, or critical infrastructure sectors prevalent in Europe.

1. Immediately verify and apply the latest Adobe ColdFusion patches or updates beyond update 15 for 2016 and update 9 for 2018 versions, as Adobe regularly releases security fixes. 2. If patches are unavailable, implement strict DLL loading policies by configuring system and application settings to use fully qualified DLL paths or employ application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized DLLs from loading. 3. Restrict write permissions on directories in the DLL search path to prevent attackers from placing malicious DLLs. 4. Use endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting DLL hijacking attempts and monitor for unusual DLL loads or privilege escalation activities. 5. Limit user privileges and educate users to avoid executing untrusted files or applications that could trigger the vulnerability. 6. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability scans focusing on ColdFusion installations and their configurations. 7. Consider isolating ColdFusion servers in segmented network zones to reduce the risk of lateral movement if compromised.