---
title: "Confluence access ctrl privesc (CVE-2023-22515)"
canonical: https://trickest.com/library/cve-2023-22515-confluence-broken-access-control-privesc
description: "Flag Atlassian Confluence hosts for CVE-2023-22515 by reading ajs-version-number on /login.action. Floors 8.3.3 / 8.4.3 / 8.5.2. No admin-create."
---

# Confluence access ctrl privesc (CVE-2023-22515)

## Overview

This workflow finds Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center and sorts each host by whether its version falls below the CVE-2023-22515 fixed floors. CVE-2023-22515 is broken access control that can let an attacker create an administrator account. This check never posts an admin-create request. Give it hostnames, IP addresses, or URLs you are authorised to test. The workflow GETs `/login.action`, fingerprints Confluence from page markers, reads `ajs-version-number`, and compares that number to the 8.x floors in the graph. Builds older than 8.0.0 are treated as not affected. Every host comes back affected or not, so a fleet advisory becomes an evidenced list for [exposure management](/use-cases/exposure-management). An affected row is a version signal only.

Run it on a schedule when Confluence 8.x fleets lag on patch windows. A node that stayed on 8.5.1 after neighbours moved is the reason the same fingerprint stays useful.

## Pipeline

1. Read the target list. Hosts, URLs, or ranges, one per line, become the scope.
2. GET `/login.action` on each host and fingerprint Confluence from page markers such as `ajs-version-number` and the powered-by footer.
3. Parse the version from `ajs-version-number` and compare it to the CVE-2023-22515 floors in the graph (8.3.3, 8.4.3, 8.5.2), treating builds below 8.0.0 as not affected.
4. Collect the per-host rows: product match, version, vulnerable flag, and any fetch error.
5. Emit the summary counts: hosts checked, product hits, vulnerable, and errors.

## Inputs

- **Target scope.** Hostnames, IP addresses, CIDR ranges, or URLs, one per line. Full URLs and host:port entries work too, since the workflow normalizes each into a bare host. Point it at scope you are authorised to test.

## Outputs

- **results.jsonl.** One row per host: URL, whether Confluence was detected, the version read, the vulnerable flag, and detail text.
- **findings.jsonl.** The same per-host verdict shaped for triage, with severity set from the vulnerable flag.
- **summary.json.** Counts across the list: targets, product hits, vulnerable, and errors, plus the detection notes from the graph.

## Integrations

- HTTP. Unauthenticated GET of `/login.action` only. No setup or admin-create request.

## Sample output

The records below are illustrative and do not come from a real run. They show one Confluence 8.x host below a CVE-2023-22515 floor, one at or above its floor, and one host that is not the product.

```jsonl
{"url": "https://wiki.example.com", "is_product": true, "product_version": "8.5.1", "vulnerable": true, "detail": "below branch floor 8.5.2"}
{"url": "https://wiki.example.org", "is_product": true, "product_version": "8.5.2", "vulnerable": false, "detail": "at or above fixed release"}
{"url": "https://shop.example.net", "is_product": false, "product_version": null, "vulnerable": false, "detail": "not identified as Atlassian Confluence"}
```

```json
{"cve": "CVE-2023-22515", "total_targets": 3, "product_detected": 2, "vulnerable": 1, "errors": 0}
```

## FAQ

### Which Confluence versions does this flag?

Builds on the 8.x lines below the floors in the graph: 8.3.3, 8.4.3, and 8.5.2. Versions below 8.0.0 are not affected. The compare uses the version Confluence itself served on `/login.action`.

### Does an affected row mean an admin account was created?

No. The check only GETs `/login.action` and reads `ajs-version-number`. It does not hit a setup endpoint and it does not create an administrator.

### Is this check safe on production?

Yes. It is a read-only unauthenticated GET of the public login page. It does not change Confluence state.

### Does the check need credentials?

No. It fingerprints the public login page the way an external scanner would.

### What is CVE-2023-22515?

Broken access control in Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center that can allow privilege escalation through unauthorized administrator creation. This workflow maps hosts to that CVE by version exposure only.

## Related workflows

- [Confluence OGNL RCE (CVE-2022-26134)](/library/cve-2022-26134-confluence-ognl-injection-rce). Reach for it when the Confluence flag is OGNL injection, not access control.
- [Confluence authz (CVE-2023-22518)](/library/confluence-authz-check-cve-2023-22518). Reach for it when you need the related Confluence authorization exposure check.
- [Confluence OGNL RCE (CVE-2021-26084)](/library/cve-2021-26084-confluence-ognl-injection-rce). Reach for it when you need the earlier OGNL fingerprint on the same fleet.

---
_Markdown source of https://trickest.com/library/cve-2023-22515-confluence-broken-access-control-privesc._