# CVE-2023-29301: Adobe ColdFusion Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts Security feature bypass

> Attackers can bypass authentication attempt restrictions in Adobe ColdFusion to compromise user confidentiality without user interaction.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wq58-62g3-92fc

## What is CVE-2023-29301?

CVE-2023-29301 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion, published on 12 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Adobe ColdFusion versions 2018u16 (and earlier), 2021u6 (and earlier) and 2023.0.0.330468 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts vulnerability that could result in a Security feature bypass. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to impact the confidentiality of the user. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.

Weakness: CWE-307 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-29301?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Adobe Coldfusion.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-29301?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-29301 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-29301 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29301 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-2023-29301 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-29301 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Coldfusion, published on 12 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29301 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-2023-29301/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29301/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-29301
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29301
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-29301

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29301/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.