Confluence Data CenterApplication · Atlassian
CVE-2023-22518
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 · uneditedAll versions of Confluence Data Center and Server are affected by this unexploited vulnerability. This Improper Authorization vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to reset Confluence and create a Confluence instance administrator account. Using this account, an attacker can then perform all administrative actions that are available to Confluence instance administrator leading to - but not limited to - full loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability. 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 confidenceThis is an improper authorization vulnerability in Confluence Data Center and Server that allows unauthenticated attackers to reset the Confluence instance and create a new administrator account, granting them full administrative control over the system.
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
>= 1.0, < 7.19.16>= 7.20.0, < 8.3.4>= 8.4.0, < 8.4.4>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.3= 8.6.0
Confluence ServerApplication
>= 1.0, < 7.19.16>= 7.20.0, < 8.3.4>= 8.4.0, < 8.4.4>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.3= 8.6.0CVSS 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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Identify Confluence product type and versionAccess the Confluence administration console or check the installation directory for the version number. In Confluence, go to General Configuration > Confluence Administration or check the 'confluence/WEB-INF/atlassian-bundled-plugins' or 'confluence/version.properties' file.Affected if The product is Confluence Data Center or Server (not Cloud) and the version falls within: < 7.19.16, >= 7.20.0 and < 8.3.4, >= 8.4.0 and < 8.4.4, >= 8.5.0 and < 8.5.3, or = 8.6.0
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Verify the installation is accessible to unauthenticated network attackersDetermine if the Confluence web interface is exposed to the internet or to untrusted internal networks without authentication barriers. Check firewall rules, reverse proxy configurations, and network ACLs restricting access to the Confluence HTTP/HTTPS ports (default 8090/8443).Affected if Confluence is reachable from untrusted networks without requiring authentication - the vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker access.
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Confirm no external authentication enforcement is in placeReview whether Confluence is configured to require external authentication (such as SSO, SAML, or LDAP) before access to the application login page. Check the 'confluence.cfg.xml' file for 'confluence.setup.initial.password' or authentication-related configuration, and verify that the login page is not directly accessible to anonymous users.Affected if Confluence allows anonymous or unauthenticated access to the setup and login endpoints, enabling the attacker to reach the vulnerable reset functionality.
You are affected if you are running Confluence Data Center or Server (not Cloud) with a version matching the affected ranges AND the instance is accessible to unauthenticated attackers on the network.
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 · scoped7.19.168.3.48.4.4
Apply the vendor patch/upgrade to the latest supported version of Confluence Data Center or Server. Until patched, restrict network access to Confluence instances as a temporary mitigation.
7.19.16, 8.3.4, 8.4.4, or 8.5.3 (or later) - choose the latest version in your current major branch
- 1. Identify your current Confluence version by navigating to Confluence Administration > General Configuration > Confluence Admin Summary
- 2. Determine which upgrade path applies based on your current version (7.19.x, 8.3.x, 8.4.x, or 8.5.x branch)
- 3. Download the appropriate Confluence Server or Data Center installation package for the fixed version from https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/download-archives
- 4. Review Atlassian's upgrade guide at https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/UpgradeDoc/Confluence+Upgrade+Guide
- 5. Perform a full backup of your Confluence database and home directory before upgrading
- 6. Stop the Confluence service
- 7. Install the upgraded version following standard Atlassian installation procedures
- 8. Start the Confluence service and verify the upgrade was successful
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
- Implementation8.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22518 — 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-2023-22518 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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- 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
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