KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2023-38203

Analysis CVE-2023-29300 Bypass: Adobe ColdFusion Pre-Auth RCE

Adobe / ColdFusion · 0 to <= cf2023U1

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Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
96.7%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2023-38203 is an unauthenticated Analysis CVE-2023-29300 Bypass: Adobe ColdFusion Pre-Auth RCE. Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u17 (and earlier), 2021u7 (and earlier) and 2023u1 (and earlier) are affected by a...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Adobe / ColdFusion 0 to <= cf2023u1.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Analysis CVE-2023-29300 Bypass: Adobe ColdFusion Pre-Auth RCE

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.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Adobe ColdFusion Through cf2023U1 Affected
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
20 Jul 2023
Exploitation Reported
08 Jan 2024
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

nuclei_scanner cisa malware ransomware

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 08 Jan 2024

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 08 Jan 2024

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

Nuclei Templates

Recorded 12 Jun 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2024-01-08 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-38203.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

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

EPSS

96.7%

Weaknesses

Deserialization of Untrusted Data CWE-502

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Adobe ColdFusion - Deserialization of Untrusted Data

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  2. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  3. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  4. First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  5. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2023-38203

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2023-38203",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.96716,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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