CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-26073 — Atlassian Connect Express security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.7

Broken Authentication in Atlassian Connect Express (ACE) from version 3.0.2 before version 6.6.0: Atlassian Connect Express is a Node.js package for building Atlassian Connect apps. Authentication between Atlassian products and the Atlassian Connect Express app occurs with a server-to-server JWT or a context JWT. Atlassian Connect Express versions from 3.0.2 before 6.6.0 erroneously accept context JWTs in lifecycle endpoints (such as installation) where only server-to-server JWTs should be accepted, permitting an attacker to send authenticated re-installation events to an app.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.7 (3.1)
Published
2021-04-16
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
javascript/npm
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • atlassian / connect_express

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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