CVE-2026-105897 in ColdFusion
Summary
by MITRE • 10/15/2026
ColdFusion is affected by a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability that could result in privilege escalation. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction. Scope is changed.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2026
The identified vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within the Adobe ColdFusion application server, specifically categorized as a Server-Side Request Forgery or SSRF. This type of vulnerability occurs when an application accepts a URL provided by a user and subsequently makes requests to that specified location on behalf of the user without proper validation. In this specific instance, the flaw allows an attacker to manipulate the destination of internal network requests initiated by the ColdFusion server itself. Because the exploitation does not require any interaction from a legitimate end-user, such as clicking a malicious link or uploading a file through a web interface, the attack vector is entirely remote and automated. This significantly lowers the barrier for entry for attackers, allowing them to target vulnerable instances directly over the network without needing social engineering tactics or user-side exploits.
The technical mechanism behind this SSRF vulnerability likely involves insufficient validation of input parameters that are used to construct internal HTTP requests. When ColdFusion processes these inputs, it fails to adequately restrict the schemes, hosts, or ports that can be accessed by the server's backend components. This oversight enables an attacker to craft a request that directs the server to communicate with internal resources that would otherwise be inaccessible from the external network. These internal resources may include database servers, administrative interfaces of other services running on localhost, cloud metadata endpoints, or internal microservices within a corporate intranet. By leveraging this capability, an attacker can probe the internal network topology and identify sensitive systems that are protected by perimeter firewalls but exposed through the vulnerable application server.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for privilege escalation. While SSRF initially provides access to internal network resources, it serves as a powerful pivot point for further exploitation. An attacker can use the forged requests to interact with administrative interfaces or APIs that require authentication which might be bypassed through default credentials, weak session management, or by exploiting other vulnerabilities in those internal services. Once an attacker gains control over these internal components, they may escalate their privileges from a low-level application user to system administrator levels. This escalation can lead to full compromise of the ColdFusion server and potentially the underlying operating system, allowing for data exfiltration, installation of persistent backdoors, or lateral movement across the network to target other critical assets.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-918, which defines Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) flaws where a web server makes requests from a backend system using user-supplied input without proper validation of the destination. Furthermore, in terms of offensive security frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, this behavior maps to techniques involving Taint Analysis and potentially Command Injection if the SSRF leads to arbitrary code execution on internal hosts. The lack of required user interaction places it firmly within remote exploitation categories, increasing its severity rating significantly compared to vulnerabilities that require local access or physical presence.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary defense is to apply the latest security patches provided by Adobe for ColdFusion, which address the specific input validation gaps allowing this SSRF condition. Organizations should also implement network-level controls such as strict egress filtering rules that prevent the application server from initiating connections to unauthorized internal IP ranges or sensitive ports. Additionally, deploying a Web Application Firewall can help detect and block malicious request patterns associated with SSRF attempts before they reach the vulnerable component. It is crucial for administrators to review all endpoints accepting user-supplied URLs and ensure that allow-listing mechanisms are strictly enforced rather than relying on blacklist approaches which are prone to bypasses through encoding tricks or alternative protocols like gopher or dict if supported by the underlying HTTP client libraries.