Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw lets an unauthenticated attacker take over a self-managed Confluence Data Center or Server instance by resetting it and creating an administrator account. That can lead to total loss of data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Atlassian Cloud sites on atlassian.net are stated as not affected.
Executive priority
Immediate priority for any self-managed Confluence. The issue is critical, remotely reachable, unauthenticated, and KEV-listed, with potential full compromise of collaboration data and service availability.
Technical view
CVE-2023-22518 is a critical improper authorization issue in Confluence Data Center and Server. The CVSS 3.0 score is 10.0 with network access, low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation gives instance administrator capability after reset and admin-account creation.
Likely exposure
Organizations running self-managed Confluence Data Center or Server are the exposure population. Atlassian Cloud sites accessed through an atlassian.net domain are stated as not vulnerable in the provided source bundle.
Exploitation context
The original description calls the issue unexploited, but the source bundle marks it as CISA KEV. Treat this as known exploited based on KEV evidence, while noting the bundle does not provide timing, scale, or attacker details.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on exposure classification, version state, unexpected admin creation, and evidence of instance reset or setup workflow abuse. The provided sources support impact and KEV status but do not include safe defensive detection logic in detail.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all self-managed Confluence Data Center and Server instances.
- Apply Atlassian vendor guidance and fixed-version direction from the advisory.
- Do not treat Atlassian Cloud atlassian.net sites as affected by this CVE.
- Restrict external access until vendor remediation is complete.
- Review administrative accounts and recent Confluence reset or setup activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Confluence deployment type: Cloud, Data Center, or Server.
- Confirm installed versions against Atlassian advisory guidance.
- Check whether any internet-facing Confluence instances remain unremediated.
- Audit newly created Confluence administrator accounts.
- Review logs for reset, setup, or unexpected administrative actions.
Public sources used
Michael Williams reviewed this cited source version on .
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-863: 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 lookupCVE-2023-22518 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
- 10 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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.
CISA KEV status
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:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H3.96Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
10CriticalVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://confluence.atlassian.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1311473907CVE reference
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFSERVER-93142CVE reference
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-22518CVE reference · government-resource
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.
Incorrect Authorization
Incorrect Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.