CVE-2024-21703

Local privilege escalation via readable configuration file

Published Nov 27, 2024 · Updated Nov 27, 2024

Security misconfiguration in Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server on Windows allows local users to read sensitive configuration data. Default Windows ACLs grant BUILTIN\Users read access to the Confluence home directory’s confluence.cfg.xml file, which stores database and other startup settings. Membership in BUILTIN\Users and local host access are required; exposed secrets can enable privilege escalation to the Confluence service account.

CVSS severity6.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Security misconfiguration in Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server on Windows allows local users to read sensitive configuration data. Default Windows ACLs grant BUILTIN\Users read access to the Confluence home directory’s confluence.cfg.xml file, which stores database and other startup settings. Membership in BUILTIN\Users and local host access are required; exposed secrets can enable privilege escalation to the Confluence service account.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-21703
Published
Nov 27, 2024
Updated
Nov 27, 2024
Vendor
Atlassian
Product
Confluence Data Center
Classifications
CWE-732, T1068, T1552.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 27, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 27, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=7.19 <7.1918
  2. Affected versionversion=8.5 <8.5.5
  3. Affected versionversion=8.7.1
  4. Affected versionversion=8.7 <8.7.2
  5. Affected versionversion=8.8 <8.8.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Atlassian · Confluence Data Centerversion=7.19 <7.1918; version=8.5 <8.5.5; version=8.7.1; version=8.7 <8.7.2; version=8.8 <8.8.0
Atlassian · Confluence Serverversion=7.19 <7.19.18; version=8.5 <8.5.5; version=8.7 <8.7.2; version=8.8 <8.8.0

Published CVSS scores

6.4CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.4AtlassianCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
T1552.001Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

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Your stack

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