CVE-2022-26138
CVE-2022-26138 is a security flaw in Atlassian Confluence, a wiki companies use for internal documents. Attackers can get into Atlassian Confluence without a valid password. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks on 29 Jul 2022.[1]
Atlassian Confluence is business software or equipment. Most families won’t have it, but attackers break into it to get inside companies, and from there to what those companies hold about their customers, patients and staff. Atlassian has published a fix or advice.
Description
CISA calls it a questions for confluence app hard-coded credentials in Atlassian Confluence. In its words: “Atlassian Questions For Confluence App has hard-coded credentials, exposing the username and password in plaintext. A remote unauthenticated attacker can use these credentials to log into Confluence and access all content accessible to users in the confluence-users group.”[1]
The CVE record adds: “The Atlassian Questions For Confluence app for Confluence Server and Data Center creates a Confluence user account in the confluence-users group with the username disabledsystemuser and a hardcoded password. A remote, unauthenticated attacker with knowledge of the hardcoded password could exploit this to log into Confluence and access all content accessible to users in the confluence-users group. This user account is created when installing versions 2.7.34, 2.7.35, and 3.0.2 of the app.”[2]
The underlying weakness is hard-coded credentials (CWE-798), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.
It scores 9.8 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it critical, scored by NVD using CVSS 3.1.[2]
Affected versions
NVD’s record doesn’t list version ranges for it; Atlassian’s advisory has them[3]. CISA names the product as Atlassian Confluence.
Most families won’t have Atlassian Confluence; it’s for whoever looks after IT at work.
Exploitation
CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on 29 Jul 2022, 9 days after it was made public. CISA lists a flaw only when it has reliable evidence of it being exploited, and gave US federal agencies until 19 Aug 2022 to fix it.[1]
FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System, which estimates how likely a flaw is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days from what it sees across the internet, puts it at 98%. That’s in the top 1% of the flaws it scores.[4]
CISA assesses it as automatable: attackers can run it against many targets at once.
CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.
Fix
Atlassian has published a fix or advice.[3] CISA’s required action: “Apply updates per vendor instructions.”[1]
- Check whether you use it.Atlassian Confluence is business software or equipment, so most families won’t have it. If you run a business, or work from home on company equipment, ask whoever looks after your IT.
- Send this page to your IT person.Ask them to confirm it’s fixed, or not in use. CISA gave US government agencies until 19 Aug 2022 to fix it.
- If it can’t be fixed, take it offline.CISA’s advice when there’s no fix is to stop using the product, or take it off the internet, until there is one.
You can’t fix someone else’s server, but you can watch for what follows a break-in like this: a breach notice, a password reset you didn’t ask for, or a scam message that knows things it shouldn’t. HARD watches for those for you and your family.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| The flaw is made public in the National Vulnerability Database, with a severity score of 9.8.[2] | |
| CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks.[1] | |
| CISA’s deadline for US government agencies to fix it.[1] | |
| FIRST puts the odds of it being used in attacks in the next 30 days at 98%.[4] |
See also
Other Atlassian flaws
- CVE-2026-21589, Atlassian products: files or directories accessible to external parties ·
- CVE-2021-26086, Atlassian Jira Server and Data Center: path traversal ·
- CVE-2023-22527, Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server: template injection ·
- CVE-2023-22518, Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server: improper authorization ·
- CVE-2023-22515, Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server: broken access control ·
Other hard-coded credentials flaws
- CVE-2026-22769, Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines (RP4VMs): use of hard-coded credentials ·
- CVE-2025-14611, Gladinet CentreStack and Triofox: hard coded cryptographic ·
- CVE-2019-6693, Fortinet FortiOS: use of hard-coded credentials ·
- CVE-2021-44207, Acclaim Systems USAHERDS: use of hard-coded credentials ·
- CVE-2024-28987, SolarWinds Web Help Desk: hardcoded credential ·
Every Atlassian flaw on CISA’s list · Everything added in July 2022
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Atlassian Questions For Confluence App Hard-coded Credentials Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 29 Jul 2022.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2022-26138 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 20 Jul 2022.
- ^ Atlassian. Advisories and fixes: confluence.atlassian.com, confluence.atlassian.com, jira.atlassian.com.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.982, percentile 99.9, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2022-26138”. The official CVE record.
This article is built from CISA’s catalog (version 2026.10.30), NVD’s record and FIRST’s scores, kept in HARD’s database and checked every morning. The plain English is HARD’s.