CVE-2026-105900 in ColdFusion
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
ColdFusion is affected by an Improper Input Validation vulnerability that could result in an application denial-of-service. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to crash the application, leading to a denial-of-service condition. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2026
The identified security flaw resides within Adobe ColdFusion and is classified as an Improper Input Validation weakness. This category of vulnerability corresponds directly with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-20, which describes the failure to validate or incorrectly validates input that can affect control flow or data manipulation. In this specific instance, the application fails to adequately sanitize or verify certain inputs before processing them through its internal logic engines. The absence of rigorous validation mechanisms allows an attacker to supply malformed or unexpected data structures that bypass standard error handling routines. This lack of defensive programming practice creates a pathway for malicious actors to trigger unhandled exceptions within the server-side runtime environment, fundamentally compromising the stability and availability of the application infrastructure.
The technical mechanism behind this denial-of-service condition relies on the exploitation of resource exhaustion or state corruption caused by the invalid input. When ColdFusion processes these malformed requests, it encounters conditions that prevent normal execution flow from completing successfully. Instead of gracefully rejecting the request with a standard HTTP error code, the server may enter an infinite loop, consume excessive memory resources, or crash its core processing threads entirely. This behavior results in immediate service interruption for legitimate users attempting to access the application. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it does not require any form of user interaction such as clicking a link or uploading a file through a graphical interface. An attacker can automate the generation and transmission of these malicious payloads using simple network tools, making the exploitation process straightforward and scalable across multiple targets simultaneously.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for causing complete service outages without authentication requirements in some configurations or with minimal privileges if authenticated access is required but easily bypassed through automated means. The denial-of-service effect disrupts business continuity by rendering critical web applications and APIs inaccessible. This can lead to significant financial losses, reputational damage, and operational downtime for organizations relying on ColdFusion for their backend services. Furthermore, the lack of user interaction requirement lowers the barrier to entry for attackers, allowing even those with limited technical expertise to launch effective attacks against vulnerable systems. The persistent nature of this availability threat means that any system exposed to untrusted networks remains at constant risk unless immediate remediation steps are taken.
To mitigate this vulnerability and restore service integrity, organizations must apply the latest security patches provided by Adobe for their specific version of ColdFusion. These updates typically include enhanced input validation logic designed to catch malformed data before it reaches critical processing components. In addition to patching, implementing network-level defenses such as Web Application Firewalls can help detect and block anomalous request patterns associated with this type of exploitation attempt. Security teams should also configure rate limiting on affected endpoints to reduce the impact of automated denial-of-service attacks while patches are being deployed. Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focused on input validation weaknesses will further strengthen the security posture by identifying similar flaws before they can be exploited in production environments.