CVE-2017-9513 in Activity Streams
Summary
by MITRE
Several rest inline action resources of Atlassian Activity Streams before version 6.3.0 allows remote authenticated attackers to watch any Confluence page & receive notifications when comments are added to the watched page, and vote & watch JIRA issues that they do not have access to, although they will not receive notifications for the issue, via missing permission checks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-9513 affects Atlassian Activity Streams versions prior to 6.3.0, representing a critical authorization flaw that undermines the security model of both Confluence and JIRA platforms. This issue stems from insufficient permission validation within the inline action resources that handle user interactions with content streams, creating a pathway for authenticated attackers to bypass access controls and gain unauthorized visibility into restricted content.
The technical flaw manifests through missing permission checks in the activity stream functionality that governs user interactions with Confluence pages and JIRA issues. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to watch any Confluence page regardless of their access rights, enabling them to receive notifications when comments are added to those pages. Additionally, they can vote and watch JIRA issues they should not have access to, though the system properly prevents them from receiving notifications for these issues. This creates a situation where attackers can monitor restricted content while maintaining a level of operational stealth since they cannot see the actual content but can track activity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it enables persistent monitoring and potential reconnaissance activities. Attackers can use this capability to track sensitive discussions, monitor project progress, and identify potential vulnerabilities in systems they do not have direct access to. The ability to watch JIRA issues provides attackers with insight into ongoing development work, bug fixes, and security concerns that may not be publicly visible. This reconnaissance capability significantly increases the risk of targeted attacks and can lead to more sophisticated exploitation attempts.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-284: Improper Access Control, which describes insufficient access control mechanisms that allow unauthorized users to access resources or perform operations they should not be permitted to execute. The flaw also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1087.002: Account Discovery - Local Account, as it allows attackers to discover and monitor access to resources they should not be able to access. Organizations using affected Atlassian products face increased risk of insider threats and targeted attacks, as this vulnerability enables attackers to maintain persistent surveillance of restricted content without detection.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate upgrade to Atlassian Activity Streams version 6.3.0 or later, which contains the necessary permission checks to prevent unauthorized access. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring of activity stream operations and user behavior anomalies that could indicate exploitation attempts. Additional defensive measures include regular security assessments of Atlassian installations, review of user permissions and access controls, and implementation of network segmentation to limit the potential impact of compromised accounts. System administrators should also consider implementing additional logging and alerting mechanisms specifically for activity stream operations to detect potential exploitation attempts.