Vigilbase CVEConnect your agent

Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server Improper Authorization Vulnerability

Exploited · KEV 2023-11-07RansomwareMetasploit moduleCVE-2023-22518CWE-863

Exploited since 2023-11-07. 2 of 8 rule sources name it. Our CRS test: not blocked.

Edge rules
2/8
Our test
Not blocked
CVSS
10.0
EPSS
100.0% Top 0.1%
Posts, 14d
02026-10-20: 0 posts2026-10-21: 0 posts2026-10-22: 0 posts2026-10-23: 0 posts2026-10-24: 0 posts2026-10-25: 0 posts2026-10-26: 0 posts2026-10-27: 0 posts2026-10-28: 0 posts2026-10-29: 0 posts2026-10-30: 0 posts2026-10-31: 0 posts2026-11-01: 0 posts2026-11-02: 0 posts
Published
2023-10-31
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… More

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.

Ask Vigil

AI · answers from this page
Ask about CVE-2023-22518: who's covered, what to patch first, how vendors compare. I cite sources and won't help with attacks.

Workers AI (Llama 3.3). Can be wrong: check the cited source.

Severity, decoded

CVSS 3.0
Critical · 10.0 / 10

Exploitable over the network, with no privileges and no user interaction, leading to full loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability, and the impact can reach components beyond the vulnerable one.

Over the internetNo login neededNo user actionWorks reliablySpreads beyond the appFull compromise
How the score is built8 metrics
  • Attack vectorAn attacker can reach it over the internet; no access to your network needed.
    Network
  • Attack complexityNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
    Low
  • Privileges requiredNo account or login is needed.
    None
  • User interactionNo one has to click or open anything; the attack works on its own.
    None
  • ScopeThe attack can spread beyond the vulnerable component to other parts of the system.
    Changed
  • Confidentiality impactAn attacker can read all data the affected component holds, or the most sensitive parts of it.
    High
  • Integrity impactAn attacker can change any data or files the affected component protects.
    High
  • Availability impactAn attacker can take the component down completely or keep it from serving anyone.
    High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CISA's assessmentSSVC, from the CVE record
ExploitationActive

Attackers are exploiting this in the wild.

AutomatableYes

Attackers can script the attack end to end and hit many targets at once.

Technical impactPartial

A successful attack gives limited control over the affected software or limited access to its data.

Public exploits

2 found
1 Metasploit0 Exploit-DB1 Scanner template0 GitHub PoCs

Links are to third-party code: never run it outside an isolated lab.

Timeline

  1. 2023-10-31
    CVE published
    CVE List
  2. 2023-10-31
    Metasploit module published
    Atlassian Confluence Unauth JSON setup-restore Improper Authorization leading to RCE (CVE-2023-22518)
  3. 2023-11-07
    Added to CISA KEV
    Confirmed exploitation in the wild
  4. 2023-12-12
    F5 ships a rule
    Atlassian Confluence Privilege Escalation (2)
  5. 2023-12-14
    AWS rule names it
    Earliest entry we can see is an update
  6. 2026-11-02
    Our test: OWASP Core Rule Set let it through
    paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings
  7. 2026-11-02
    Our test: OWASP Core Rule Set let it through
    paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings

Social

2026-10-20: 0 posts2026-10-21: 0 posts2026-10-22: 0 posts2026-10-23: 0 posts2026-10-24: 0 posts2026-10-25: 0 posts2026-10-26: 0 posts2026-10-27: 0 posts2026-10-28: 0 posts2026-10-29: 0 posts2026-10-30: 0 posts2026-10-31: 0 posts2026-11-01: 0 posts2026-11-02: 0 posts

No posts seen yet on X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Hacker News or GitHub.

Vendor statements

Quoted
CloudflareWAF Managed RulesBefore feed history

The CVE predates the oldest entry in this vendor's public feed, so a rule may exist that we cannot see.

AWSAWS WAF Managed Rules1 quoteRule published

Named by 2023-12-14; the first entry is an update, so the rule may be older.

2023-12-14UpdatedSource
Known bad inputs managed rule group ExploitablePaths_URIPATH: Released static version 1.20 of this rule group. Updated the ExploitablePaths_URIPATH rule to add detection for requests that match the Atlassian Confluence CVE-2023-22518 Improper Authorization vulnerability. This vulnerability affects all versions of Confluence Data Center and Server. For more information, see NIST: National Vulnerability Database: CVE-2023-22518 Detail .
Microsoft AzureFront Door and Application Gateway WAF (DRS)No public claim

We found no public statement from this vendor naming this CVE. That is not proof of no protection: generic rules may still catch it. The rule tables name CVEs but carry no dates, so Azure is left out of every time-to-rule figure.

Google CloudCloud Armor preconfigured WAF rulesBefore feed history

The CVE predates the oldest entry in this vendor's public feed, so a rule may exist that we cannot see.

FastlyNext-Gen WAF virtual patchesBefore feed history

The CVE predates the oldest entry in this vendor's public feed, so a rule may exist that we cannot see.

F5Attack signatures (Distributed Cloud WAF)2 quotesRule published

First rule 2023-12-12, 42 days after the CVE was published.

2023-12-12New rule200013063Source
Added: signature 200013063 "Atlassian Confluence Privilege Escalation (2)" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk High), systems: Java Servlets/JSP. References: CVE-2023-22515, CVE-2023-22518.
2023-12-12New rule200013069Source
Added: signature 200013069 "Atlassian Confluence Privilege Escalation (3)" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk High), systems: Java Servlets/JSP. References: CVE-2023-22518.
AkamaiApp & API Protector (Adaptive Security Engine)No public source

This vendor publishes no machine-readable rule changelog we can check.

OWASP CRSCore Rule Set (open source, used inside many WAFs)No public claim

We found no public statement from this vendor naming this CVE. That is not proof of no protection: generic rules may still catch it. CRS rarely names CVEs: it relies on generic detections. Our own lab measures what it actually blocks.