Confluence Data CenterApplication · Atlassian
CVE-2023-22515
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 · uneditedAtlassian 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.
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 confidenceA critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server allows external attackers to create unauthorized administrator accounts on publicly accessible instances. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.8 and was being actively exploited in the wild.
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
Confluence Data CenterApplication
>= 8.0.0, < 8.3.3>= 8.4.0, < 8.4.3>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.2
Confluence ServerApplication
>= 8.0.0, < 8.3.3>= 8.4.0, < 8.4.3>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.2CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine Confluence installation versionAccess the Confluence administration console or check the installation directory for the version file. In theConfluence UI, go to Confluence Administration > General Configuration > Confluence Information to view the installed version.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 8.0.0 and < 8.3.3, >= 8.4.0 and < 8.4.3, or >= 8.5.0 and < 8.5.2
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Identify all administrator accountsNavigate to Confluence Administration > User Management > Users and review all accounts with the System Administrator or Confluence Administrator global permission. Check for any unfamiliar or unauthorized admin accounts that were not created by your organization.Affected if Any administrator account exists that was not created by legitimate administrators, especially accounts created around the time of potential exploitation.
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Review recent account creation logsIn Confluence Administration > User Management > Audit Log, search for user creation events, particularly those with administrator roles, around the time window of potential exploitation.Affected if New administrator accounts appear in audit logs that were not created by known administrators.
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Assess network exposureDetermine whether the Confluence web interface is directly accessible from the internet without VPN, firewall restrictions, or authentication gateway. Check firewall rules and reverse proxy configurations.Affected if Confluence is accessible from untrusted networks without authentication barriers, enabling unauthenticated attackers to reach the vulnerable endpoints.
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Check for suspicious configuration changesIn Confluence Administration > Audit Log, review for any unexpected changes to security settings, directory connections, or application permissions that may indicate compromise.Affected if Configuration changes exist in audit logs that were not performed by authorized administrators.
Your Confluence instance is likely affected if it runs a version in the affected ranges AND is exposed to the network, or if unauthorized administrator accounts are found in the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped8.3.38.4.38.5.2
Organizations running self-hosted Confluence Data Center or Server instances should immediately apply the security patch or upgrade to the latest patched version. Atlassian Cloud sites (atlassian.net domain) are not affected.
Upgrade to Confluence 8.3.3, 8.4.3, 8.5.2, or later (8.6.0+) - choose the minimum fixed version appropriate for your release line
- 1. Take a complete backup of your Confluence database and home directory before proceeding with any upgrade.
- 2. If running Confluence in a cluster, follow Atlassian's rolling upgrade documentation for Data Center deployments.
- 3. Review Atlassian's upgrade guide for your current version to target version path.
- 4. Download the appropriate fixed version (8.3.3, 8.4.3, 8.5.2, or later) from the Atlassian website or your existing license portal.
- 5. Stop the Confluence service.
- 6. Run the installer or deploy the new WAR/EAR files according to standard upgrade procedures.
- 7. Start Confluence and verify all plugins/add-ons are compatible and functioning.
- 8. Validate that the administrative interface is accessible and review user accounts for any unauthorized administrator accounts created by attackers.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Confluence Data Center
Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22515 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-22515 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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