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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-22515High confidence

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server Broken Access Control Vulnerability

Atlassian · Confluence Data Center and Server

9.8CriticalCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Patch now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2023-10-13 as the remediation due date.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityCriticalOperational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 99.22% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-26655

EU known exploited

Atlassian has been made aware of an issue reported by a handful of customers where external attackers may have exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in publicly accessible Confluence Data Center and Server instances to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence instances. Atlassian Cloud sites are not affected by this vulnerability. If your Confluence site is accessed via an atlassian.net domain, it is hosted by Atlassian and is not vulnerable to this issue.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 5 Oct 2023. Evidence sources: cisa_kev, eukev_kev.
ENISA score
10.0 · CVSS 3.0
Advisory evidence
2 linked advisory records
Recommended actionPatch now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2023-10-13 as the remediation due date.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server contains a broken access control vulnerability that allows an attacker to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence.

What

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server contains a broken access control vulnerability that allows an attacker to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence.

Why

The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server contains a broken access control vulnerability that allows an attacker to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence.

Why

The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2023-10-05. Known ransomware campaign use is recorded.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Reference recorded

A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Input Validation → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-20 ↗

CWE-20: Improper Input Validation. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-20CISA KEVPublic exploit reference
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-26655Known-exploited evidence recorded

Atlassian has been made aware of an issue reported by a handful of customers where external attackers may have exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in publicly accessible Confluence Data Center and Server instances to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence instances. Atlassian Cloud sites are not affected by this vulnerability. If your Confluence site is accessed via an atlassian.net domain, it is hosted by Atlassian and is not vulnerable to this issue.

Official EUVD record ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2023-2700Atlassian Confluence: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian Jira Software, Atlassian Bitbucket und Atlassian Bamboo ausnutzen, um Administratorrechte zu erlangen, Informationen offenzulegen, beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen oder einen Denial of Service Zustand herbeizuführen.

Official advisory ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2023-2555Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Privilegieneskalation

Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann eine Schwachstelle in Atlassian Confluence ausnutzen, um seine Privilegien zu erhöhen.

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV23-602Atlassian security advisory (AV23-602)

On October 4, 2023, Atlassian published a security bulletin to address a vulnerability in the following products: Atlassian has received reports that CVE-2023- 22515 has been exploited.

Official advisory ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20231011Security Bulletin 11 Oct 2023

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 11 Oct 2023, published on 11 October 2023. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2023-AVI-0803Vulnérabilité dans Atlassian Confluence

Une vulnérabilité a été découverte dans Atlassian Confluence. Elle permet à un attaquant de provoquer une élévation de privilèges et un contournement de la politique de sécurité. L'éditeur a connaissance d'un rapport indiquant que la vulnérabilité a été exploitée sur des instances Confluence Data Center et Server accessibles depuis internet.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2023-014006Atlassian の Confluence Data Center および Confluence Server における脆弱性

Atlassian の Confluence Data Center および Confluence Server には、不特定の脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-6007현재 악용되고 있는 Exploit(Update. 2023-10-05)

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows an attacker to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence.

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Fixed
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
Official vendor articles1 stored document

Linked articles are downloaded and versioned as source evidence. A CVE mention or approved update relationship does not, by itself, verify a fix for every product branch.

04

Evidence and provenance

Published 4 Oct 2023 · Last source change 25 Mar 2026, 14:56 UTC · CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-26655
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    >= 8.0.0; >= 8.0.1; >= 8.0.2; >= 8.0.3; >= 8.1.3; >= 8.1.4; >= 8.2.0; >= 8.2.1 · Fixed: < 8.0.0; >= 8.3.3; >= 8.4.3; >= 8.5.2
    After
    Confluence Data Center: >= 8.0.0, >= 8.0.1, >= 8.0.2, >= 8.0.3, >= 8.1.3, >= 8.1.4, >= 8.2.0, >= 8.2.1, >= 8.2.2, >= 8.2.3, >= 8.3.0, >= 8.3.1, >= 8.3.2, >= 8.4.0, >= 8.4.1, >= 8.4.2, >= 8.5.0, >= 8.5.1; Confluence Server: >= 8.0.0, >= 8.0.1, >= 8.0.2, >= 8.0.3, >= 8.1.3, >= 8.1.4, >= 8.2.0, >= 8.2.1, >= 8.2.2, >= 8.2.3, >= 8.3.0, >= 8.3.1, >= 8.3.2, >= 8.4.0, >= 8.4.1, >= 8.4.2, >= 8.5.0, >= 8.5.1 · Fixed: Confluence Data Center: < 8.0.0, >= 8.3.3, >= 8.4.3, >= 8.5.2; Confluence Server: < 8.0.0, >= 8.3.3, >= 8.4.3, >= 8.5.2
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-26655↗CISA KEV record↗Vendor advisory↗Vendor advisory↗Vendor advisory↗Public exploit reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-22515 · cve.blacktree.nl