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Confluence Data CenterApplication · Atlassian

CVE-2024-21703

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.19.18 / 8.5.5 or later.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Medium severity Security Misconfiguration vulnerability was introduced in version 8.8.1 of Confluence Data Center and Server for Windows installations. This Security Misconfiguration vulnerability, with a CVSS Score of 6.4 allows an authenticated attacker of the Windows host to read sensitive information about the Confluence Data Center configuration which has high impact to confidentiality, high impact to integrity, high impact to availability, and no user interaction. Atlassian recommends that Confluence Data Center and Server customers upgrade to the latest version, if you are unable to do so, upgrade your instance to one of the specified supported fixed versions: * Confluence Data Center and Server 7.19: Upgrade to a release greater than or equal to 7.19.18 * Confluence Data Center and Server 8.5: Upgrade to a release greater than or equal to 8.5.5 * Confluence Data Center and Server 8.7: Upgrade to a release greater than or equal to 8.7.2 * Confluence Data Center and Server 8.8: Upgrade to a release greater than or equal to 8.8.0 See the release notes (https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf88/confluence-release-notes-1354501008.html ). You can download the latest version of Confluence Data Center and Server from the download center (https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/download-archives ). This vulnerability was reported via our Atlassian Bug Bounty Program by Chris Elliot.

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

Security misconfiguration in Confluence Data Center and Server for Windows (introduced in version 8.8.1) allows an authenticated attacker with Windows host access to read sensitive configuration information, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

MitigationUpgrade Confluence Data Center/Server to a supported fixed version (7.19.18+, 8.5.5+, 8.7.2+, or 8.8.0+) per Atlassian's recommendations.

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
Affected:< 7.19.18>= 8.5, < 8.5.5>= 8.7, < 8.7.2
Confluence ServerApplication
Affected:< 7.19.18>= 8.0.0, < 8.5.5

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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. Check Confluence version
    Access the Confluence Administration console or check the confluence-version.properties file in the Confluence installation directory. On Windows, this is typically located in <Confluence_install>\conf\WEB-INF\classes\ or use the /about endpoint if available.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: < 7.19.18, >= 8.5.0 and < 8.5.5, >= 8.7.0 and < 8.7.2, or exactly 8.8.1 (the version where it was introduced). For Server editions: < 7.19.18 or >= 8.0.0 and < 8.5.5.
  2. Confirm Windows host environment
    Verify that the Confluence server is running on a Windows operating system. Check system properties or the server environment where Confluence is installed.
    Affected if Confluence is installed and running on a Windows host (the vulnerability specifically affects Windows installations).
  3. Inspect configuration file permissions
    On the Windows host, navigate to the Confluence configuration directory (typically \conf\ or \confluence\ in the installation path) and verify file system permissions on XML configuration files, particularly the confluence.cfg.xml file.
    Affected if Configuration files are readable by authenticated users other than the service account, or permissions allow unprivileged Windows users to access sensitive configuration content.

You are affected if Confluence Data Center or Server is running on Windows and the installed version falls within the affected version ranges, indicating the security misconfiguration that allows unauthorized configuration read access is present.

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 7.19.18 / 8.5.5 / 8.7.2 or later
Fixed in 7.19.188.5.58.7.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Confluence Data Center/Server to a supported fixed version (7.19.18+, 8.5.5+, 8.7.2+, or 8.8.0+) per Atlassian's recommendations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Confluence 7.19.18+, 8.5.5+, 8.7.2+, or 8.8.0+ (choose the appropriate branch based on your current version)

  1. 1. Identify your current Confluence version by checking the Confluence administration console or the about page
  2. 2. Create a complete backup of your Confluence database and installation directory, including the confluence.cfg.xml configuration file
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from Atlassian's download center (https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/download-archives): for 7.19.x branch use 7.19.18+, for 8.5.x use 8.5.5+, for 8.7.x use 8.7.2+, for 8.8.x use 8.8.0+
  4. 4. Stop the Confluence service on your Windows server
  5. 5. Follow Atlassian's standard upgrade procedure: run the installer or extract the new version files to your Confluence home directory
  6. 6. Start the Confluence service and verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the administration console
  7. 7. Review the Confluence release notes for the new version to ensure all configuration changes are properly applied
Caveat Review Atlassian's upgrade notes for your specific version path as some migrations may require additional steps or have compatibility considerations with existing plugins

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

Fix this in Confluence Data Center Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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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-2024-21703 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