How severe is CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which products are affected by CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 affects the following products: atlassian confluence data center, atlassian confluence server.

How do I patch CVE-2023-22518?

Apply the atlassian confluence data center security patch or hotfix for CVE-2023-22518 on the affected version, following the vendor advisory for your exact build.

How do I detect CVE-2023-22518 across my infrastructure?

Inventory every atlassian confluence data center deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-22518 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Is CVE-2023-22518 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 12 known exploit references for CVE-2023-22518, including 8 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 100.0%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2023-22518 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2023-22518 (Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server Improper Authorization Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2023-11-07. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2023-11-28. The required action was: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. This CVE has been used in known ransomware campaigns. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 is classified as CWE-863 (CWE-863). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2023-22518?

CVE-2023-22518 affects atlassian confluence data center (1 version, e.g. 8.6.0); atlassian confluence server (1 version, e.g. 8.6.0). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2023-22518?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2023-22518, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2023-22518 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-22518 was published on October 31, 2023 and was last updated on June 17, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

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CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2023-22518 — Confluence Data Center

CRITICAL

CVE-2023-22518 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-863 vulnerability in atlassian confluence data center. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-11-07) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.

All versions of Confluence Data Center and Server are affected by this unexploited vulnerability. This Improper Authorization vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to reset…

Published

Oct 31, 2023

Updated

Jun 17, 2026

Affected

2 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

12 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-11-07 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2023-11-28.
CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2023-22518.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

100.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2023-22518 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Description

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.

Affected Products

2 products · 10 configurations

Application

confluence data centeratlassian

≥ 8.5.0 && < 8.5.3

1 version

8.6.0

Application

confluence serveratlassian

≥ 8.5.0 && < 8.5.3

1 version

8.6.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.