# CVE-2021-40698: ColdFusion Use of Inherently Dangerous Function Leads To Security feature bypass

> An authenticated attacker can bypass security features to access and manipulate arbitrary data in Adobe ColdFusion.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 4 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fpxx-jv2f-8cf9

## What is CVE-2021-40698?

CVE-2021-40698 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion, published on 7 Sep 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ColdFusion version 2021 update 1 (and earlier) and versions 2018.10 (and earlier) are impacted by an Use of Inherently Dangerous Function vulnerability that can lead to a security feature bypass  . An authenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to access and manipulate arbitrary data on the environment.

Weakness: CWE-242 (Use of Inherently Dangerous Function)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-40698?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Adobe Coldfusion.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-40698?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-40698 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-40698 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40698 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Coldfusion

- [CVE-2026-48282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-48282/): Adobe ColdFusion Path Traversal (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-38203](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38203/): Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-29300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29300/): Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-26359](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26359/): Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-15961](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15961/): Adobe ColdFusion Unrestricted File Upload (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-40698 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-40698 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion, published on 7 Sep 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40698 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Adobe Coldfusion. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40698/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40698/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-40698
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-40698
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-40698

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40698/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.