What is CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Data Center, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2023-10-31.

How severe is CVE-2023-22518?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2023-22518 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2023-22518 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-11-07), indicating it is being actively exploited. 60 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Auth bypass in Atlassian Confluence Data Center

CVE-2023-22518

All 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.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

EPSS: 1.000 (100.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Atlassian Confluence Data Center — versions < 1.0.0, >= 1.0.0, >= 7.19.16
Atlassian Confluence_data_center — versions 8.6.0
Atlassian Confluence Server — versions < 1.0.0, >= 1.0.0, >= 7.19.16
Atlassian Confluence_server — versions 8.6.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-863 — Incorrect Authorization

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2023-11-07. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2023-11-28.

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Known ransomware campaign use: yes.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

security@atlassian.com (Mitigation, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
security@atlassian.com (Mitigation, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
security@atlassian.com (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-22518?: CVE-2023-22518 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Data Center, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2023-10-31.
How severe is CVE-2023-22518?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2023-22518 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2023-22518 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-11-07), indicating it is being actively exploited. 60 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.