VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-49539: Adobe ColdFusion · XXE

Affects Adobe ColdFusionSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 48% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Adjacent
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Mavencom.adobe/coldfusion`pkg:maven/com.adobe/coldfusion`Other threats	Affected <=2025.2 <=2023.14 <=2021.20	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediate mitigation should focus on network segmentation and access controls to restrict internal network access to ColdFusion servers, ensuring only trusted and necessary systems and users have connectivity.
Implement strict privilege management to limit the number of users with high privileges on ColdFusion servers, reducing the likelihood of an attacker having the required access level.
Monitor and log XML processing activities and anomalous requests to detect potential exploitation attempts early.
Apply any available vendor patches or updates as soon as Adobe releases them; in the absence of patches, consider temporary workarounds such as disabling or restricting XML external entity processing features if feasible.
Conduct internal vulnerability assessments and penetration tests focusing on ColdFusion instances to identify and remediate potential attack vectors.
Educate internal teams about the risks of lateral movement and privilege escalation within internal networks to improve detection and response capabilities.
Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious XML payloads that may exploit XXE vulnerabilities.

Description

ColdFusion versions 2025.2, 2023.14, 2021.20 and earlier are affected by an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference ('XXE') vulnerability that could result in a security feature bypass. A high-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access sensitive information. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction. The vulnerable component is restricted to internal IP addresses.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-49539 can be significant in environments where Adobe ColdFusion is used, particularly in sectors handling sensitive or regulated data such as finance, healthcare, and government. The vulnerability allows a high-privileged attacker with internal network access to bypass security controls and access sensitive information, potentially leading to data breaches and compliance violations under regulations like GDPR. Since exploitation does not require user interaction, an attacker who has already gained elevated privileges or internal network presence could leverage this vulnerability to escalate data access without detection. The limitation to internal IP addresses reduces the risk of remote exploitation from outside the network but increases the importance of internal network security and monitoring. Organizations with complex internal networks or insufficient segmentation may face higher risks. Additionally, the confidentiality impact is high, meaning sensitive data exposure is the primary concern, which could result in reputational damage, financial penalties, and operational disruptions if exploited.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb25-69.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Jul 2025, 21:50 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats