CVE-2025-30288 is a high-severity Improper Access Control vulnerability (CWE-284) affecting multiple versions of Adobe ColdFusion, specifically versions 2023.12, 2021.18, 2025.0, and earlier. This vulnerability allows a low-privileged attacker with local access to bypass security protections within the ColdFusion application. The exploitation requires user interaction, meaning the attacker must coerce a legitimate user into performing certain actions within the application that change the security scope. Once exploited, the attacker can execute arbitrary code, potentially gaining elevated privileges and full control over the affected system. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.2, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with attack vector being local (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), indicating that exploitation can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the potential for privilege escalation and code execution on systems running vulnerable ColdFusion versions. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting increases the urgency for mitigation.

For European organizations, this vulnerability presents a serious threat, especially those relying on Adobe ColdFusion for web application development and deployment. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized code execution, data breaches, and disruption of critical services. Given ColdFusion’s use in enterprise environments, including government, finance, and healthcare sectors, the compromise could result in exposure of sensitive personal data protected under GDPR, leading to regulatory penalties and reputational damage. The requirement for local access and user interaction somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, as insider threats or social engineering attacks could facilitate exploitation. Additionally, the changed scope means that attackers could potentially affect other system components or networked resources, amplifying the impact. European organizations with complex IT environments and legacy ColdFusion deployments are particularly vulnerable to cascading effects from this flaw.

1. Immediate mitigation should focus on restricting local access to systems running vulnerable ColdFusion versions, enforcing strict access controls and monitoring for unusual local activity. 2. Educate users about social engineering risks to reduce the likelihood of coerced actions that enable exploitation. 3. Implement application-level monitoring and logging to detect anomalous behavior indicative of privilege escalation attempts. 4. Employ network segmentation to limit lateral movement if an attacker gains local access. 5. Regularly audit ColdFusion installations to identify and inventory affected versions. 6. Apply any available vendor patches or security updates as soon as they are released. 7. Consider deploying application whitelisting and endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting unauthorized code execution. 8. Use multi-factor authentication and least privilege principles to minimize the impact of compromised accounts. 9. If patching is delayed, consider temporary workarounds such as disabling vulnerable features or restricting application functionality that could be exploited.