CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2022-26138 — Atlassian Questions For Confluence App Hard-coded Credentials Vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8 CISA KEV

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.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2022-07-20
CISA KEV
Known exploited
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-798

Affected products

  • atlassian / questions_for_confluence / 2.7.34
  • atlassian / questions_for_confluence / 2.7.35
  • atlassian / questions_for_confluence / 3.0.2

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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