Konowledge version records (kb_version) gets updated by System Administrator

[andersbogsjo]

Hi!

Lately we have in our enviroment noticed that KB version records for Published versions (in the table kb_version) is being updated by System Administrator (admin). It looks like there is some script/job doing that Since it happens for several during the night. Not at the same time every night though.

If I check the log there is som logs related to the knowledge records saying for example:
"No cache entry found for kb_translated_articles with key: <sys_id _of_the_kb>" and also "<sys_id _of_the_kb> was added to topic <sys_id_of topic>""

That happens just a second before the kb_version record is updated, and then the Modified by also gets updated.

For Published versions I think that should not happen.
In the attachment it is clear that the one who created the kb_version when it get's published is not System Administrator (admin)

Can anyone explain, or know why this behaviour occur?
Regards

Anders

[vaishali231]

Hey @andersbogsjo 

From the details you've shared, this doesn't look like a manual modification of the published Knowledge Article. It appears to be a background platform process updating the kb_version record.

The log entries:

No cache entry found for kb_translated_articles...

<article_sys_id> was added to topic <topic_sys_id>

suggest that ServiceNow is performing Knowledge topic synchronization, search indexing, or translation cache maintenance. These background processes typically run under the System Administrator (admin) account, which is why the Modified by field changes even though the article is already published.

I would recommend checking the following to confirm:

1. Review the History/Audit of the affected kb_version record to see which fields were actually updated.
2. Compare the update timestamps with System Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs to identify any Knowledge, AI Search, or Topic Management jobs running at that time.
3. Check for any custom Business Rules, Flows, or Scheduled Script Executions that reference the kb_version table.

If only metadata or system fields are being updated (and not the article content), this is generally expected behavior. However, if content-related fields are changing on a published version, it would be worth investigating customizations or opening a case with ServiceNow Support.

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Regards

Vaishali Singh

Servicenow Developer
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishali-singh-2273361bb