CVE-2013-0631

What is Adobe ColdFusion?

Adobe ColdFusion is an enterprise application server platform widely deployed in government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises. ColdFusion servers typically store and process sensitive business data and maintain database connections with high-privilege service accounts. Information disclosure vulnerabilities that expose server internals — even read-only — can provide attackers with the reconnaissance data needed to mount more damaging follow-on attacks.

Overview

CVE-2013-0631 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Adobe ColdFusion patched in Security Bulletin APSB13-03 alongside the authentication bypass CVE-2013-0625 and directory traversal CVE-2013-0629. The specific mechanism is described by Adobe as "unspecified," which is typical of Adobe's advisory language for vulnerabilities where public technical details could accelerate exploitation.

The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to obtain sensitive information from the ColdFusion server. With a CVSS confidentiality impact of High and no integrity or availability impact, this is a read-only exposure — but one significant enough to provide critical reconnaissance for subsequent attacks against the ColdFusion server or its backend systems.

Adobe patched this in APSB13-03 on January 9, 2013.

Affected Versions

Technical Details

While Adobe has not publicly described the specific mechanism, the vulnerability exposes sensitive server information to unauthenticated remote requests. In the context of the companion vulnerabilities in APSB13-03, the likely exposure includes ColdFusion server configuration data, installed component information, or application metadata that allows attackers to fingerprint the server, identify the installed ColdFusion version precisely, and locate exploitable components.

CVE-2013-0631 is the third of a cluster of three ColdFusion vulnerabilities (0625, 0629, 0631) all patched simultaneously — suggesting they were discovered through a coordinated assessment of ColdFusion's security posture. The combination of authentication bypass, directory traversal, and information disclosure vulnerabilities in a single advisory reflects a systemic pattern of insufficient access controls in ColdFusion's administrative and file-serving infrastructure.

Discovery

Discovered through security research and included in APSB13-03 alongside the more severe authentication bypass and directory traversal issues.

Exploitation Context

CISA confirmed in-the-wild exploitation. Information disclosure from CVE-2013-0631 was typically used in conjunction with CVE-2013-0625 and CVE-2013-0629 as part of a comprehensive ColdFusion server compromise chain. Attackers leveraging all three vulnerabilities could enumerate server configuration, read credential files, and gain administrative access without authentication.

Remediation

1. Apply APSB13-03 on all affected ColdFusion 9.x and 10 installations
2. Apply Adobe's ColdFusion lockdown guide, which restricts access to sensitive endpoints and reduces information exposure
3. Place ColdFusion Administrator and development interfaces behind firewall rules restricting access to administrative IP ranges only
4. Keep ColdFusion updated with the latest patches — Adobe releases ColdFusion hotfixes and security updates separately from platform-level patches
5. Review server access logs for unauthorized requests to ColdFusion administrative and configuration endpoints