📄 Description (English)
Adobe ColdFusion Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability — Adobe ColdFusion contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that could allow for code execution.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2018-4939 is a critical deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion that allows remote code execution. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and publicly available exploits, this vulnerability poses an extreme risk to any organization running unpatched ColdFusion servers. The vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild and is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Immediate patching is essential as attackers can achieve full system compromise through this flaw.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 11, 2026 02:24
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Adobe ColdFusion is used across multiple Saudi sectors for web application development. Government portals and e-services platforms (NCA-regulated entities) are particularly at risk as many legacy government web applications rely on ColdFusion. Banking and financial institutions regulated by SAMA may have internal or customer-facing applications built on ColdFusion. Energy sector organizations including ARAMCO subsidiaries and contractors, as well as telecom providers like STC, could be affected if they maintain ColdFusion-based internal tools or portals. The availability of public exploits makes this an immediate threat for any exposed Saudi infrastructure, especially given the high value of Saudi targets to nation-state and financially motivated threat actors.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Energy
Telecom
Healthcare
Education
Retail
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Identify all Adobe ColdFusion instances across your environment using asset discovery tools
2. Apply Adobe security update APSB18-14 immediately for all affected ColdFusion versions
3. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to ColdFusion admin interfaces and limit exposure to the internet
Compensating Controls:
- Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block Java deserialization payloads
- Block serialized Java object content types at the network perimeter
- Monitor for suspicious process execution originating from ColdFusion processes (e.g., cmd.exe, powershell.exe, bash spawned by cfusion)
- Restrict outbound network connections from ColdFusion servers
Detection Rules:
- Monitor for indicators of Java deserialization attacks in HTTP request bodies (e.g., 'aced0005' hex signatures)
- Create SIEM alerts for unusual child processes spawned by ColdFusion runtime
- Review ColdFusion logs for unexpected RMI or JNDI activity
Long-term:
- Consider migrating legacy ColdFusion applications to supported and actively maintained platforms
- Implement application-level input validation and serialization controls
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع مثيلات Adobe ColdFusion في بيئتكم باستخدام أدوات اكتشاف الأصول
2. تطبيق تحديث Adobe الأمني APSB18-14 فوراً لجميع إصدارات ColdFusion المتأثرة
3. إذا لم يكن التحديث الفوري ممكناً، قيّدوا الوصول الشبكي إلى واجهات إدارة ColdFusion وحدّوا التعرض للإنترنت
الضوابط التعويضية:
- تطبيق قواعد جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) لاكتشاف وحظر حمولات إلغاء تسلسل Java
- حظر أنواع محتوى كائنات Java المتسلسلة على محيط الشبكة
- مراقبة تنفيذ العمليات المشبوهة الصادرة من عمليات ColdFusion
- تقييد الاتصالات الشبكية الصادرة من خوادم ColdFusion
قواعد الكشف:
- مراقبة مؤشرات هجمات إلغاء تسلسل Java في نصوص طلبات HTTP
- إنشاء تنبيهات SIEM للعمليات الفرعية غير المعتادة التي يولدها وقت تشغيل ColdFusion
- مراجعة سجلات ColdFusion للنشاط غير المتوقع لـ RMI أو JNDI
على المدى الطويل:
- النظر في ترحيل تطبيقات ColdFusion القديمة إلى منصات مدعومة ومحدثة
- تطبيق التحقق من المدخلات وضوابط التسلسل على مستوى التطبيق
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC-2:3-1 (Vulnerability Management)
ECC-2:3-4 (Patch Management)
ECC-2:5-2 (Web Application Security)
ECC-2:2-1 (Asset Management)
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.3 (Patch Management)
3.3.4 (Vulnerability Management)
3.4.1 (Application Security)
3.3.7 (Network Security)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.8.8 (Management of technical vulnerabilities)
A.8.9 (Configuration management)
A.8.23 (Web filtering)
A.8.28 (Secure coding)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
6.3.3 (Patch critical vulnerabilities within one month)
6.4 (Web application firewall)
11.3 (Penetration testing)
6.2 (Develop secure software)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Adobe:ColdFusion