CVE-2022-26138 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2022-26138
Vulnerability Scoring

9.8
/10
Critical Risk

As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2022-26138 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2022-26138 Details

Status: Analyzed

Last updated: 🕢 19 Feb 2025, 19:48 UTC
Originally published on: 🕕 20 Jul 2022, 18:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 945 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2022-26138 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2022-26138: 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.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2022-26138

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2022-26138 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2022-26138

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2022-26138 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2022-26138, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2022-26138, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2022-26138 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2022-26138 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2022-26138 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 96.815% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 99.81% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 0.18999999999999773% of others.

CVE-2022-26138 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-798

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Read Sensitive Constants Within an Executable CAPEC-191 An adversary engages in activities to discover any sensitive constants present within the compiled code of an executable. These constants may include literal ASCII strings within the file itself, or possibly strings hard-coded into particular routines that can be revealed by code refactoring methods including static and dynamic analysis.
  • Try Common or Default Usernames and Passwords CAPEC-70 An adversary may try certain common or default usernames and passwords to gain access into the system and perform unauthorized actions. An adversary may try an intelligent brute force using empty passwords, known vendor default credentials, as well as a dictionary of common usernames and passwords. Many vendor products come preconfigured with default (and thus well-known) usernames and passwords that should be deleted prior to usage in a production environment. It is a common mistake to forget to remove these default login credentials. Another problem is that users would pick very simple (common) passwords (e.g. "secret" or "password") that make it easier for the attacker to gain access to the system compared to using a brute force attack or even a dictionary attack using a full dictionary.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:2.7.34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:2.7.34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:2.7.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:2.7.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:3.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:questions_for_confluence:3.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:confluence_data_center:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:confluence_data_center:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:confluence_server:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:atlassian:confluence_server:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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