CVE-2025-61823VulnerabilityPublished 9 Dec 2025

CVE-2025-61823: Adobe ColdFusion · XXE

Affects Adobe ColdFusionSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 42% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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 9 Dec 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 2026-10-26.

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 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
Adobe ColdFusion	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Apply official Adobe patches or updates for ColdFusion as soon as they are released to address CVE-2025-61823. 2. Until patches are available, disable or restrict XML external entity processing in ColdFusion configurations to prevent XXE exploitation. 3. Implement strict access controls to limit high-privileged user accounts and monitor their activities closely. 4. Educate users about social engineering risks to reduce the chance of successful user interaction exploitation. 5. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block malicious XML payloads containing external entity references. 6. Conduct regular security audits and code reviews of ColdFusion applications to identify and remediate unsafe XML parsing practices. 7. Monitor logs for unusual XML processing errors or access to sensitive files that could indicate exploitation attempts. 8. Segment ColdFusion servers from critical internal networks to contain potential breaches.

Description

ColdFusion versions 2025.4, 2023.16, 2021.22 and earlier are affected by an Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference ('XXE') vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary file system read. A high privileged attacker could exploit this vulnerability to access sensitive files and data on the server. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction and scope is changed.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-61823 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored on ColdFusion servers. This could include configuration files, database credentials, or proprietary data, leading to confidentiality breaches. Organizations in sectors such as finance, government, healthcare, and critical infrastructure that rely on ColdFusion for web applications are particularly at risk. The requirement for high privileges and user interaction reduces the likelihood of widespread exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially from insider threats or targeted attacks involving social engineering. Data exposure could facilitate further attacks, including privilege escalation or lateral movement within networks. The medium severity rating suggests a moderate but significant risk that must be addressed promptly to prevent data leaks and maintain compliance with European data protection regulations such as GDPR.

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/apsb25-105.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Dec 2025, 00:25 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats