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Jira Data CenterApplication · Atlassian

CVE-2021-43944

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.13.15 / 8.20.3 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
This issue exists to document that a security improvement in the way that Jira Server and Data Center use templates has been implemented. Affected versions of Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center allowed remote attackers with system administrator permissions to execute arbitrary code via Template Injection leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) in the Email Templates feature. The affected versions are before version 8.13.15, and from version 8.14.0 before 8.20.3.

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

Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center versions before 8.13.15 and 8.14.0 before 8.20.3 contain a template injection vulnerability in the Email Templates feature. Remote attackers with system administrator permissions can inject malicious code into email templates, leading to arbitrary code execution on the underlying system.

MitigationUpdate Jira Server or Data Center to version 8.13.15, 8.20.3, or later to remediate this vulnerability. Alternatively, restrict system administrator permissions pending the update.

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
Jira Data CenterApplication
Affected:< 8.13.15>= 8.14.0, < 8.20.3
Jira ServerApplication
Affected:< 8.13.15>= 8.14.0, < 8.20.3

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Identify installed Jira version
    Navigate to Jira Administration > System > System Info or check the /rest/api/2/serverInfo endpoint. The version is displayed as major.minor.patch (e.g., 8.13.10).
    Affected if The installed version is less than 8.13.15, OR is 8.14.0 through 8.20.2 inclusive.
  2. Confirm Jira variant is Data Center or Server
    Check the System Info page or the About menu in Jira. Data Center displays a specific Data Center badge, while Server shows no variant designation.
    Affected if The instance is Jira Data Center or Jira Server (not Jira Cloud).
  3. Verify Email Templates feature is accessible
    Navigate to Jira Administration > Mail > Email Templates. This feature is available by default in standard Jira installations.
    Affected if The Email Templates page loads successfully, indicating the feature is present and accessible.
  4. Confirm system administrator access exists
    Check user permissions by navigating to Jira Administration > User Management > Users, or by viewing the user's profile to verify the 'Jira System Administrators' group membership.
    Affected if At least one user account has system administrator permissions, or the current user possesses them.

A user is affected if their Jira Data Center or Server version falls within the range 8.0.0 to 8.13.14 or 8.14.0 to 8.20.2, the Email Templates feature is available, and a system administrator account exists in the environment.

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 8.13.15 / 8.20.3 or later
Fixed in 8.13.158.20.3
Interim mitigation

Update Jira Server or Data Center to version 8.13.15, 8.20.3, or later to remediate this vulnerability. Alternatively, restrict system administrator permissions pending the update.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Jira 8.13.15, 8.20.3, or later (8.21.x or newer)

  1. 1. Identify current Jira version by navigating to Jira Administration > System > System Info or checking the /rest/api/2/serverInfo endpoint
  2. 2. Backup your Jira Data Center instance including the database and installation directory
  3. 3. Review Atlassian upgrade documentation and release notes for the target version
  4. 4. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
  5. 5. Schedule maintenance window as upgrade will require downtime
  6. 6. Download the target fixed version (8.13.15 or 8.20.3 or later) from Atlassian's official distribution
  7. 7. Stop the Jira service
  8. 8. Install the upgrade following Atlassian's standard upgrade procedure
Caveat Standard Jira upgrade considerations apply - review breaking changes in release notes; ensure app/compatibility with target version before production upgrade

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

Fix this in Jira Data Center Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

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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-2021-43944 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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