Apache Tomcat Windows JSP Upload and Remote Code Execution
Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.
An unauthenticated attacker, remotely over the network, with no user interaction, can fully compromise the system — steal data, tamper with it and take it offline.
When running Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.79 on Windows with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g. via setting the readonly initialisation parameter of the Default to false) it was possible to upload a JSP file to the server via a specially crafted request. This JSP could then be requested and any code it contained would be executed by the server.
Inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and how the flaw is reached — the techniques an attacker would chain to exploit this. Real-world corroboration appears here as threat intel is folded in.
Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.
Named threat actors and observed ATT&CK techniques appear here as intel feeds are folded in — the ATT&CK chain above stays inferred until then.
Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.
Disable HTTP PUT requests by ensuring the 'readonly' initialization parameter of the Default servlet is set to 'true' (its default value) in `web.xml`. Implement network-level access controls to restrict direct access to Tomcat servers from untrusted sources. Enhance logging and monitoring for suspicious file uploads or unusual access patterns to web root directories.
Upgrade Apache Tomcat to version 7.0.80 or later immediately. Ensure all affected instances running on Windows are updated to a patched version. Verify the upgrade by checking the server version and confirming that the vulnerability is no longer present, especially regarding HTTP PUT functionality.
An attacker can upload arbitrary JSP files to the server and execute malicious code with the privileges of the Tomcat process. This leads to full server compromise, enabling data theft, service disruption, and potential lateral movement within the network, severely impacting business operations and data confidentiality.
Other CVEs affecting tomcat
Path Equivalence: 'file.Name' (Internal Dot) leading to Remote Code Execution and/or Information disclosure and/or malicious content added to uploaded files via write enabled Default Servlet in Apache Tomcat. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.2, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.34, from 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.98. The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.0 though 8.5.100. Other, older, EOL versions may also be affected. If all of the following were true, a malicious user was able to view security sensitive files and/or inject content into those files: - writes enabled for the default servlet (disabled by default) - support for partial PUT (enabled by default) - a target URL for security sensitive uploads that was a sub-directory of a target URL for public uploads - attacker knowledge of the names of security sensitive files being uploaded - the security sensitive files also being uploaded via partial PUT If all of the following were true, a malicious user was able to perform remote code execution: - writes enabled for the default servlet (disabled by default) - support for partial PUT (enabled by default) - application was using Tomcat's file based session persistence with the default storage location - application included a library that may be leveraged in a deserialization attack Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.3, 10.1.35 or 9.0.99, which fixes the issue.
When using the Apache JServ Protocol (AJP), care must be taken when trusting incoming connections to Apache Tomcat. Tomcat treats AJP connections as having higher trust than, for example, a similar HTTP connection. If such connections are available to an attacker, they can be exploited in ways that may be surprising. In Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.30, 8.5.0 to 8.5.50 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.99, Tomcat shipped with an AJP Connector enabled by default that listened on all configured IP addresses. It was expected (and recommended in the security guide) that this Connector would be disabled if not required. This vulnerability report identified a mechanism that allowed: - returning arbitrary files from anywhere in the web application - processing any file in the web application as a JSP Further, if the web application allowed file upload and stored those files within the web application (or the attacker was able to control the content of the web application by some other means) then this, along with the ability to process a file as a JSP, made remote code execution possible. It is important to note that mitigation is only required if an AJP port is accessible to untrusted users. Users wishing to take a defence-in-depth approach and block the vector that permits returning arbitrary files and execution as JSP may upgrade to Apache Tomcat 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later. A number of changes were made to the default AJP Connector configuration in 9.0.31 to harden the default configuration. It is likely that users upgrading to 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later will need to make small changes to their configurations.
OpenSLP as used in ESXi and the Horizon DaaS appliances has a heap overwrite issue. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.
Remote code execution is possible with Apache Tomcat before 6.0.48, 7.x before 7.0.73, 8.x before 8.0.39, 8.5.x before 8.5.7, and 9.x before 9.0.0.M12 if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is used and an attacker can reach JMX ports. The issue exists because this listener wasn't updated for consistency with the CVE-2016-3427 Oracle patch that affected credential types.
The Jakarta Multipart parser in Apache Struts 2 2.3.x before 2.3.32 and 2.5.x before 2.5.10.1 has incorrect exception handling and error-message generation during file-upload attempts, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted Content-Type, Content-Disposition, or Content-Length HTTP header, as exploited in the wild in March 2017 with a Content-Type header containing a #cmd= string.
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.242 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in June 2016.