Adobe ColdFusion Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read

name: Adobe ColdFusion Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read
id: 695aceae-21db-4e7f-93ac-a52e39d02b93
version: 8
date: '2026-03-27'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
data_source:
    - Suricata
description: |-
    The following analytic detects potential exploitation of the Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability, CVE-2023-26360, which allows unauthenticated arbitrary file read.
    It monitors POST requests to the "/cf_scripts/scripts/ajax/ckeditor/*" endpoint using the Web datamodel.
    This activity can be significant due to the vulnerability's high CVSS score of 9.8, indicating severe risk.
    If confirmed malicious, it could lead to unauthorized data access, further attacks, or severe operational disruptions.
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
      count min(_time) as firstTime
            max(_time) as lastTime

    FROM datamodel=Web WHERE

    Web.url="*/cf_scripts/scripts/ajax/ckeditor/*"
    Web.status=200
    Web.http_method=POST

    BY Web.http_user_agent Web.status Web.http_method
       Web.url Web.url_length Web.src Web.dest

    | `drop_dm_object_name("Web")`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `adobe_coldfusion_unauthenticated_arbitrary_file_read_filter`
how_to_implement: This detection requires the Web datamodel to be populated from a supported Technology Add-On like Splunk for Apache, Splunk for Nginx, or Splunk for Palo Alto.
known_false_positives: |-
    In the wild, we have observed three different types of attempts that could potentially trigger false positives if the HTTP status code is not in the query.
    These include:

    - "/cf_scripts/scripts/ajax/ckeditor/plugins/filemanager/iedit.cfc?method=wizardHash&_cfclient=true&returnFormat=wddx&inPassword=foo"
    - "/cf_scripts/scripts/ajax/ckeditor/plugins/filemanager/uploadedFiles/2U9Uyvv qwP4PGaZpjARz5VJGfpCk.jsp"
    - "/cf_scripts/scripts/ajax/ckeditor/plugins/filemanager/upload.cfm"

    These could be legitimate requests depending on the context of your organization. Therefore, it is recommended to modify the analytic as needed to suit your specific environment.
references:
    - https://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/auxiliary/gather/adobe_coldfusion_fileread_cve_2023_26360/
    - https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-26360.yaml
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") starthoursago=168  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: Possible exploitation of CVE-2023-26360 against $dest$ via $url$.
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
    threat_objects:
        - field: src
          type: ip_address
tags:
    cve:
        - CVE-2023-26360
    analytic_story:
        - Adobe ColdFusion Arbitrary Code Execution CVE-2023-29298 CVE-2023-26360
    asset_type: Network
    atomic_guid: []
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1190
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: network
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1190/adobe/cve_2023_29360_coldfusion.log
          source: not_applicable
          sourcetype: suricata