Overview
The CVE-2025-43563 vulnerability is a critical security flaw that affects multiple versions of ColdFusion, a popular platform for building web applications. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to bypass proper access controls and read files from the system arbitrarily, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information or even a full system compromise.
The severity of this vulnerability, combined with the number of businesses that rely on ColdFusion for their online operations, makes it an urgent concern for network administrators and security professionals. If left unaddressed, this vulnerability could expose organizations to significant cybersecurity risks, including data theft and the disruption of critical online services.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-43563
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.1)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Unauthorized file system read, potential system compromise, and data leakage
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Product | Affected Versions
ColdFusion | 2025.1, 2023.13, 2021.19 and earlier
How the Exploit Works
The CVE-2025-43563 vulnerability arises from an improper access control mechanism in ColdFusion. This flaw allows an attacker to bypass the standard security checks that should prevent unauthorized file system read operations. As a result, an attacker could send specially crafted requests to the ColdFusion server to read arbitrary files, potentially accessing sensitive data or gaining further footholds into the system.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit the CVE-2025-43563 vulnerability. The attacker sends a POST request to a vulnerable endpoint on the target server, with the malicious payload designed to read a sensitive file.
POST /vulnerable_endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"file_path": "/etc/passwd"
}In this example, the malicious payload requests the “/etc/passwd” file, which contains user account information on Unix-based systems. If successful, the attacker could gain access to this sensitive information and use it to further compromise the system. It’s important to note that the actual exploit would likely be more complex and specific to the exact configuration and version of the ColdFusion server.
Mitigation and Recommendations
To protect against the CVE-2025-43563 vulnerability, users should apply the vendor-supplied patch as soon as possible. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider implementing a web application firewall (WAF) or intrusion detection system (IDS) to detect and block exploitation attempts. However, these measures should only be viewed as temporary mitigations, and patching the underlying vulnerability should remain a priority.