Adobe ColdFusion Directory Traversal Vulnerability (CVE‑2010‑2861)
What It Is
A directory‑traversal flaw exists in the Adobe ColdFusion Administrator console. By supplying crafted path sequences (e.g., ../), a remote attacker can cause the server to read arbitrary files from the underlying file system and return their contents over HTTP.
Exploitability
- The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed for over a decade and proof‑of‑concept code is available in multiple security repositories.
- No recent public exploits have been reported, but unpatched installations remain vulnerable, and the attack requires only network access to the ColdFusion admin endpoint.
- CVSS v3.1 base score: 6.5 (Medium) – reflects the ease of remote exploitation and the potential impact of confidential file disclosure.
Affected Products
- Vendor: Adobe
- Product: Adobe ColdFusion (all versions prior to the security patch released in 2010).
Why It Matters for Compliance & Audit Readiness
- Access Controls: The flaw bypasses logical access restrictions, allowing read access to files that should be protected by least‑privilege policies.
- Continuous Control Monitoring: Detecting unexpected file‑read requests to the admin console is a key indicator of control failure; logging and alerting on such activity supports a defensible audit trail.
- Evidence of Due Diligence: Demonstrating that ColdFusion instances are inventoried, patched, and that admin‑console access is restricted satisfies vendor‑management and configuration‑baseline controls required by frameworks such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS.
Recommended Actions
- Inventory & Patch – Identify every ColdFusion server in scope and verify that the 2010 security update (or later cumulative patch) is applied.
- Restrict Admin Access – Enforce network‑level segmentation or VPN‑only access to the
/CFIDE/administrator/path; implement multi‑factor authentication where possible. - Enable Logging & Alerting – Capture HTTP requests to the admin console and generate alerts on path traversal patterns (
../). Retain logs for at least 90 days for audit purposes. - Update CMDB & Control Mapping – Record remediation status in your configuration management database and map the fix to the “Access Control – Logical” control family.
- Validate Post‑Remediation – Perform authenticated scans or manual tests to confirm the traversal vector is no longer exploitable.
Source: CISA KEV – CVE‑2010‑2861