Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-43781

RCE in Atlassian Bitbucket 7.0.0 – 7.6.19

Published
17 November 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.98 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-43781 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Atlassian Bitbucket. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2022-43781 is a command injection vulnerability that arises from unsafe handling of environment variables in Atlassian Bitbucket Server and Data Center. The flaw is tracked under CWE-77 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8. An attacker who can control a username value is able to inject operating-system commands that execute with the privileges of the Bitbucket process.

Exploitation requires the ability to set or modify a username; when the instance permits public signup the attack can be performed unauthenticated over the network. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution on the underlying server, giving an attacker full control over the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Bitbucket instance and any connected repositories.

Public advisories and patch information are published by Atlassian at the referenced Confluence and Jira locations (https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/Y4hXRg and https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BSERV-13522).

The CVE maintains a high EPSS score, with a current value of 0.8748 and a recorded peak of 0.9208, indicating sustained exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

There is a command injection vulnerability using environment variables in Bitbucket Server and Data Center. An attacker with permission to control their username can exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code on the system. This vulnerability can be unauthenticated if…

more

the Bitbucket Server and Data Center instance has enabled “Allow public signup”.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability is a remote command injection flaw in a public-facing Bitbucket Server/Data Center application, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application for initial access and code execution.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: HIGH
Successful exploitation results in arbitrary operating-system command execution with the privileges of the Bitbucket process.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Arbitrary command execution on the server grants the attacker the ability to escalate privileges to those of the Bitbucket service account.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-36804Same product: Atlassian Bitbucket
CVE-2024-21697Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2025-35113Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2023-22505Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2025-22165Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2012-2926Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2026-21569Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2025-35112Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2019-3396Same vendor: Atlassian
CVE-2025-22177Same vendor: Atlassian

Affected Assets

atlassian
bitbucket
7.0.0 — 7.6.19 · 7.7.0 — 7.17.12 · 7.18.0 — 7.21.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation and sanitization of untrusted username input that is passed into environment variables, blocking the command-injection vector.

prevent

Limits the privileges of the Bitbucket process so that even successful command injection yields only restricted code execution.

prevent

Mandates timely application of the vendor patch that eliminates the unsafe environment-variable handling described in the CVE.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

detects

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References