CVE-2025-30286: Adobe ColdFusion RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-30286 Overview

CVE-2025-30286 is an OS Command Injection vulnerability [CWE-78] affecting Adobe ColdFusion versions 2023.12, 2021.18, 2025.0, and earlier releases. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of special elements in operating system commands. A high-privileged attacker can exploit this issue to bypass security protections and execute arbitrary code on the underlying host. Exploitation requires user interaction, and the scope changes upon successful attack, meaning impact extends beyond the vulnerable component. Adobe published the security advisory APSB25-15 on April 8, 2025, addressing this and related ColdFusion vulnerabilities.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution on the ColdFusion server, with scope changes that allow attackers to impact resources beyond the application boundary.

Affected Products

Adobe ColdFusion 2021 (Update 18 and earlier)
Adobe ColdFusion 2023 (Update 12 and earlier)
Adobe ColdFusion 2025.0

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-08 - CVE-2025-30286 published to NVD
2025-04-08 - Adobe releases security advisory APSB25-15
2025-04-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-30286

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in ColdFusion's handling of user-supplied input passed to operating system command interfaces. ColdFusion fails to neutralize special shell metacharacters before constructing OS commands, allowing an authenticated administrator-level user to inject additional commands into the execution context. Because the CVSS scope is changed, successful exploitation impacts resources beyond the ColdFusion process itself, including the host operating system and adjacent services.

The vulnerability is classified under [CWE-78] (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command). Exploitation grants the attacker code execution under the privileges of the ColdFusion service account, which is frequently a privileged account on Windows or Linux servers hosting the application.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient input sanitization on parameters that flow into OS command construction within ColdFusion. Special characters such as ;, |, &, backticks, and shell substitution sequences are not stripped or escaped before being concatenated into command strings. This allows an attacker with high privileges to append or modify the intended command.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network and requires both high privileges (PR:H) and user interaction (UI:R). A realistic exploitation scenario involves an authenticated ColdFusion administrator visiting an attacker-crafted page or processing a malicious payload that triggers the vulnerable code path. Once triggered, the injected OS command executes under the ColdFusion service context. The attacker can then establish persistence, harvest credentials, or pivot to other systems on the network.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available. Refer to the Adobe ColdFusion Security Advisory APSB25-15 for vendor-confirmed technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30286

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by coldfusion.exe, jrun.exe, or the Java process running ColdFusion (cmd.exe, powershell.exe, /bin/sh, /bin/bash).
Outbound network connections originating from the ColdFusion service to untrusted hosts immediately after administrator console activity.
New or modified .cfm or .cfc files in webroot directories created by the ColdFusion process outside of normal deployment windows.
Shell metacharacters such as ;, |, &&, or backticks appearing in ColdFusion administrator request logs.

Detection Strategies

Monitor process lineage on ColdFusion hosts and alert on shell or scripting interpreters launched as children of the ColdFusion JVM.
Inspect ColdFusion administrator access logs for requests containing encoded or raw shell metacharacters in form fields and query parameters.
Correlate administrator authentication events with subsequent process creation activity to identify abuse of legitimate privileged sessions.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging in the ColdFusion Administrator and forward logs to a centralized SIEM for retention and analysis.
Establish a baseline of expected child processes for the ColdFusion service and alert on deviations.
Track file integrity in ColdFusion installation directories, especially cfusion/wwwroot/CFIDE/administrator/ and configuration paths.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30286

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the security updates released in Adobe advisory APSB25-15 to ColdFusion 2021, 2023, and 2025 installations.
Restrict access to the ColdFusion Administrator interface to trusted management networks only.
Audit ColdFusion administrator accounts and remove any that are unused, shared, or no longer required.
Run the ColdFusion service under a least-privilege account rather than SYSTEM or root.

Patch Information

Adobe addressed CVE-2025-30286 in the April 2025 security release. Administrators should upgrade to ColdFusion 2021 Update 19, ColdFusion 2023 Update 13, or the patched ColdFusion 2025 release as documented in the Adobe ColdFusion Security Advisory APSB25-15. Apply the corresponding lockdown guides after patching to harden the deployment.

Workarounds

Place the ColdFusion Administrator behind a VPN or IP allow-list to limit which clients can reach the vulnerable endpoints.
Enforce multi-factor authentication on all ColdFusion administrative accounts to reduce the likelihood of credential compromise enabling exploitation.
Deploy a web application firewall rule set that blocks shell metacharacters in ColdFusion administrator request parameters until patching is complete.

bash

# Example: restrict ColdFusion Administrator access via reverse proxy (nginx)
location /CFIDE/administrator/ {
    allow 10.0.0.0/24;        # management subnet
    deny  all;
    proxy_pass http://coldfusion_backend;
}