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Data CenterApplication · Atlassian

CVE-2021-39113

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.13.9 / 8.18.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Affected versions of Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center allow anonymous remote attackers to continue to view cached content even after losing permissions, via a Broken Access Control vulnerability in the allowlist feature. The affected versions are before version 8.13.9, and from version 8.14.0 before 8.18.0.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a Broken Access Control vulnerability in Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center's allowlist feature. Anonymous remote attackers can continue to view cached content even after losing permissions, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive information. The vulnerability affects versions before 8.13.9 and from 8.14.0 before 8.18.0.

MitigationUpgrade Jira Server or Data Center to version 8.18.0 or later (or 8.13.9 or later for the 8.13.x branch) to remediate this vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Data CenterApplication
Affected:< 8.13.9
JiraApplication
Affected:< 8.13.9
Jira Data CenterApplication
Affected:>= 8.14.0, < 8.18.0
Jira ServerApplication
Affected:>= 8.14.0, < 8.18.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Jira version installed
    Navigate to Jira Administration > System > Troubleshooting and support tools, or access /rest/api/2/serverInfo to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if The installed version is less than 8.13.9, or greater than or equal to 8.14.0 but less than 8.18.0
  2. Verify if anonymous access is enabled
    Go to Jira Administration > Security > Global Permissions and check if 'Anonymous' permission is granted to any user group or if 'Allow anonymous access' is enabled in security settings
    Affected if Anonymous access is enabled, as the vulnerability allows anonymous attackers to access cached content after losing permissions
  3. Confirm allowlist feature usage
    Check Jira Administration > Security > Allowlist (or browse /plugins/servlet/allowed-admin-scheme if accessible) to see if any URLs or domains are configured in the allowlist
    Affected if The allowlist feature contains entries, as the vulnerability exploits how cached content is handled when allowlist permissions are revoked
  4. Inspect cache configuration for sensitive content
    Examine the application cache directory (typically <jira-home>/cache or <jira-install>/caches) for stored content that may have been accessible to anonymous users before permission changes
    Affected if Cache directories contain content that may have been accessible under previous allowlist permissions

A Jira instance is affected if it runs a version between 8.14.0-8.17.x or below 8.13.9, has anonymous access enabled, and uses the allowlist feature where cached content may remain accessible after permissions are revoked.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.13.9 / 8.18.0 or later
Fixed in 8.13.98.18.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Jira Server or Data Center to version 8.18.0 or later (or 8.13.9 or later for the 8.13.x branch) to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Jira 8.18.0 or later (latest stable release)

  1. Review the Atlassian upgrade guide for your current version
  2. Back up your Jira database and installation directory
  3. Download the target version (8.18.0 or later) from the official Atlassian website
  4. Stop your Jira application server
  5. Install the new version following Atlassian's upgrade documentation
  6. Start the Jira application and verify the upgrade was successful
  7. Test that the allowlist feature properly expires cached content after permissions are revoked
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply - review Atlassian's upgrade notes for migration caveats and ensure compatibility with your plugins/add-ons

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Data Center Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-39113 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data