Upgrading from Adobe ColdFusion 2021 to ColdFusion 2023: Preparing for End of Support and Next Steps

As Adobe ColdFusion 2021 approaches its end of core support on November 10, 2025, organizations must begin migration planning now to maintain security, compliance, and performance. This guide walks you through the key dates, reasons to upgrade, and a focused path from CF 2021 to CF 2023. 

Note that Adobe does offer what they call extended support through November 10, 2026, but extended support only means they will help you migrate.  No patches or updates will be given.  Charlie Arehart does a good job explaining this in his 2021 EOL blog.

Why You Shouldn’t Stay on ColdFusion 2021 After End of Support

Over the past year, we have seen more frequent security updates.  While this is a welcome change, it reinforces the importance of assessing your current ColdFusion deployments and ensuring you’re a supported version. 

1. Security Exposure
   No new patches mean potential exposure to published CVEs and exploitable holes.
2. Regulatory Compliance
   Standards like PCI, HIPAA, and GDPR require supported and up‑to‑date platforms.
3. Platform Compatibility
   Future OS, Java, and cloud‑service updates may break CF 2021 installations.
4. Diminishing Ecosystem
   Community forums, plugins, and third‑party tools will shift focus to supported releases.

Key New Features Introduced in ColdFusion 2023

• Enhanced Cloud Integration: Native connectors for Google Cloud Platform services (Firestore, Pub/Sub), AWS, and Azure enable scalable, event-driven architectures.
• Central Configuration Server (CCS): A unified control plane to manage configurations across multiple ColdFusion instances and clusters.
• Advanced Security Controls: Built-in JSON Web Token (JWT) support for stateless authentication, plus deeper Single Sign‑On integrations (LDAP, SAML) for unified identity management.
• Revamped PDF Engine: Faster, more accurate HTML‑to‑PDF conversion that preserves complex layouts, CSS, and font rendering.
• GraphQL Client & OpenAPI Support: Native CFML APIs to consume GraphQL and OpenAPI endpoints seamlessly, simplifying data fetching and API integrations.

For full details on these 2023 features and enhancements, see Adobe’s official What’s New guide. (helpx.adobe.com).  You can also view Charlie Arehart’s video Hidden Gems in ColdFusion for even more features.

Gotchas: Breaking changes in ColdFusion 2023

If you are on ColdFusion 2021 Update 12 or earlier, this section is very important for you to read.  Adobe normally goes out of their way, so they don’t break existing code, but they had to break character recently to enhance security.  xByte Cloud CTO, Dakota Clum, and Charlie Arehart talked about their real world experiences with these ColdFusion changes on a recent episode of Cloud Experts Unleashed.

Implicit Scope Security Changes (CF 2023 Update 7 / CF 2021 Update 13)

Why this matters: CF 2023 Update 7 (and CF 2021 Update 13) disable implicit variable lookups across FORM, URL, CGI, COOKIE, CFFile, and CLIENT scopes by default, throwing errors for unscoped variables.

• Remediation: Prefix all variables explicitly (e.g. form.userID, url.page).
• Temporary Workaround (strongly advised to only do it temporarily or during testing):
  • JVM Flag: -Dcoldfusion.searchimplicitscopes=true
  • Application Setting (Application.cfc pseudo‑constructor, outside methods):
  • this.searchImplicitScopes = true;
• Discovery Tool: Drop Adobe’s hotfix JAR into cf_root/lib/updates to log each runtime occurrence of implicit‑scope lookups, then review logs for remediation priorities.  For more information on this loggig, checkout Charlie Arehart’s write on his Follow-up onMarch 2024 CF update blog.
• For those needing help fixing their code: Foundeo’s Fixinator can now help fix unscoped variable issues in your code.  It will scan you code and then suggest options to fix it.

Default Encryption Changes (CF 2023 Update 8 / CF 2021 Update 14)

Why this matters: CF 2023 Update 8 (and CF 2021 Update 14) change the default encryption algorithm from CFMX_COMPAT to stronger options (AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding, SHA‑256, etc.), affecting encrypt(), decrypt(), hash(), and random functions.

• Remediation: Explicitly specify CFMX_COMPAT in your existing calls:
• encrypt(myData, myKey, “CFMX_COMPAT”);
• decrypt(storedData, myKey, “CFMX_COMPAT”);
• Temporary Workaround (strongly advised to only do it temporarily or during testing): JVM argument to retain legacy default:
  -Dcoldfusion.encryption.useCFMX_COMPATAsDefault=TRUE
• Data Migration: Decrypt stored payloads with CFMX_COMPAT and re‑encrypt using the new algorithms, then remove explicit arguments as you adopt the stronger defaults.

As you continue planning your upgrade path, it’s important to also review Adobe ColdFusion’s Deprecated Feature page that highlights deprecated, unsupported and removed features within ColdFusion to see if your application may be impacted.

Step‑by‑Step Migration Checklist

1. Inventory & Assessment
   Catalog all CF 2021 apps, tags, and CFML functions in use (especially encrypt, decrypt, unscoped tags).
2. Static Analysis
   Run ColdFusion Security Code Analyzer (CF Builder / VSCode) or Pete Freitag’s Fixinator to locate unscoped variables and insecure crypto calls.
3. Runtime Validation
   Deploy Adobe’s implicit‑scope‑logging JAR on a staging instance to help assess usage of unscoped variables within your application.
4. Code Remediation
   • Scope every variable as a best practice.
   • Update any calls relying on ColdFusion’s encryption/decryption/hashing functions to include the algorithm argument where required or re-write logic within your app to utilize newer algorithms available within these functions.
   • Replace any deprecated CFML per Adobe’s documentation.
5. Data Migration
   For encrypted data at rest, decrypt with CFMX_COMPAT, re‑encrypt with the new default, and update calls accordingly.
6. Parallel Install & Testing
   Stand up CF 2023 alongside CF 2021, deploy remediated code, and perform thorough functional and security tests.
7. Production Cut‑Over & Monitoring
   Switch traffic to CF 2023, monitor logs for errors, and remove any temporary flags or JAR patches once cleanup is complete.

Hosting Considerations – Consider making the switch to xByte Cloud

Since you are going to be updating and testing code during an update to ColdFusion, many companies use this as an opportunity to explore their ColdFusion hosting needs and consider options.

xByte Cloud specializes in ColdFusion migrations:

• Engine‑Tuned Environments: JVM and connector settings optimized for CF 2023.
• Automated Patching: Ensures each CF update is applied when convenient for you.
• Security Hardening: Lockdown profiles, intrusion monitoring, and routine vulnerability scans.
• Expert Support: 24×7 CF‑specialist engineers guiding you through each update and cut‑over.

Partnering with xByte Cloud lets your team focus on development, while expert operations ensure a secure, compliant migration.

Conclusion & Next Steps

The clock is ticking on ColdFusion 2021’s support lifecycle. By following this focused CF 2021 → CF 2023 path—inventory, analyze, remediate, migrate, and test—you’ll maintain security, compliance, and performance beyond November 2025. Engage with a hosting partner like xByte Cloud to handle complex update orchestration and schedule your migration milestones now to meet your November 2025 deadline.