CVE-2023-22522
Atlassian Confluence Data Center 4.0 – 7.19.17
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-22522 is a high-severity Injection (CWE-74) vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Data Center. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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-2023-22522 is a template injection vulnerability affecting Confluence Data Center and Server instances that are publicly accessible. The flaw permits an attacker to supply unsafe user input into a Confluence page, which is then processed by the template engine. Atlassian Cloud sites hosted under atlassian.net domains are explicitly stated to be unaffected.
An authenticated user, including one granted anonymous access, can exploit the issue to achieve remote code execution on the affected server. The vulnerability carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 with network attack vector, low complexity, and no user interaction required, enabling full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The referenced Atlassian advisory and associated Jira issue direct administrators to apply the patches listed for the impacted Confluence Server and Data Center versions and emphasize that immediate remediation is required for any exposed instances.
EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.4229 before receding to the current value of 0.1620, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-26662
Vulnerability Data
This Template Injection vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker, including one with anonymous access, to inject unsafe user input into a Confluence page. Using this approach, an attacker is able to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) on an affected instance. Publicly…
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accessible Confluence Data Center and Server versions as listed below are at risk and require immediate attention. See the advisory for additional details 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.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Developer assessments and testing (including injection-focused techniques) identify improper neutralization of special elements, and the verifiable flaw remediation corrects them pre-deployment.
Identifies indicators of injection attacks (command, SQL, LDAP, etc.) via anomaly and attack monitoring.
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.
Logging supports detection of injection attempts but does not prevent the weakness.
Monitoring activities can identify active injection attacks after they occur.
A.8.25 mandates a secure SDLC process that includes secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training to reduce injection flaws, but does not itself enforce or guarantee neutralization of special elements at runtime.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection attacks in software design.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (including distrust external input, data validation/sanitization, secure architecture layers, and design reviews against attack patterns) that reach injection when applied to output construction; this stops exploitation for a minority slice (e.g. where principles drive sanitization) but leaves most code-level injection defects untouched without further implementation rigor.
Secure coding standards require proper neutralization of special elements, directly addressing CWE-74.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-74, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.