Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw lets an unauthenticated attacker run code inside affected Jira Data Center deployments if they can reach Jira's exposed Ehcache RMI service. For executives, the business risk is full compromise of Jira data and availability where cluster-only services are reachable from untrusted networks.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for any internet-exposed or broadly reachable Jira Data Center environment. Prioritize patching and network restriction because successful exploitation could give an unauthenticated attacker control inside Jira, affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Technical view
Affected Jira Data Center, Jira Core Data Center, Jira Software Data Center, and Jira Service Management Data Center versions exposed unauthenticated Ehcache RMI services. The issue is missing authentication, leading to unsafe deserialization and arbitrary code execution when an attacker can connect to ports 40001, potentially 40011, or random object ports in older releases.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in self-managed Atlassian Jira Data Center environments where Ehcache ports are reachable beyond trusted cluster nodes. Single-node Jira Server products are not identified in the supplied affected list. Older affected versions may use randomly allocated object ports, making exposure harder to validate from fixed port checks alone.
Exploitation context
The supplied sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. However, the CVSS 9.8 rating reflects network access, low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction. Practical exploitation depends on attacker connectivity to the Ehcache service.
Researcher notes
The issue is tracked as CWE-862 with CVSS 3.1 score 9.8. Fixed Jira versions require a shared secret for Ehcache access. The key exposure question is not only version, but whether untrusted systems can connect to the Ehcache RMI service.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Jira and Jira Service Management Data Center to fixed versions listed by Atlassian.
- Restrict Ehcache service access to only trusted Data Center cluster instances.
- Review firewall and security group rules for ports 40001 and 40011.
- Account for random Ehcache object ports in older affected versions.
- Monitor Atlassian advisory pages for any updated remediation guidance.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Jira Data Center and Jira Service Management Data Center versions.
- Compare deployed versions against the affected and fixed version ranges.
- Confirm Ehcache ports are not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Validate cluster-only access between authorized Data Center nodes.
- Check older deployments for randomly allocated Ehcache object ports.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-862: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-36239 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSDSERVER-8454CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-72566CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/jira-data-center-and-jira-service-management-data-center-security-advisory-2021-07-21-1063571388.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.