GHSA-2rvf-329f-p99g CVE-2016-6794

System Property Disclosure in Apache Tomcat

Medium Maven

Severity: 5.3 / 10; Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS): 7.15%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 94.28% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: —; Not classified
Fix: 6.0.47; Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to this version or later

Description

When a SecurityManager is configured, a web application's ability to read system properties should be controlled by the SecurityManager. In Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.M9, 8.5.0 to 8.5.4, 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.36, 7.0.0 to 7.0.70, 6.0.0 to 6.0.45 the system property replacement feature for configuration files could be used by a malicious web application to bypass the SecurityManager and read system properties that should not be visible.

Affected versions

Maven

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.47`	`6.0.47`
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.72`	`7.0.72`
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`>= 8.0.0, < 8.0.37`	`8.0.37`
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`>= 8.1.0, < 8.5.5`	`8.5.5`
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`>= 9.0.0.M1, < 9.0.0.M10`	`9.0.0.M10`

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven → `6.0.47`

maven

<dependency><groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId><artifactId>tomcat</artifactId><version>6.0.47</version></dependency>

gradle

implementation("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:6.0.47")

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 5.3

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

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

References

Advisories

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6794

Packages

github.com/apache/tomcat

Timeline

May 13, 2022 Published
Nov 28, 2024 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
GHSA-69r9-qgr7-g2wj Apache Tomcat Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data vulnerability	High Known exploited	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-h3x4-894j-xpx5 Apache Tomcat's FORM authentication process has an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability	Critical	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-9xv2-5v5q-p794 Apache Tomcat's DIGEST authenticator has an Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay vulnerability	Critical	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-gcx9-497g-6cp6 Apache Tomcat has an Improper Access Control, Incorrect Authorization vulnerability	Critical	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-5m62-pw8w-7w9f Apache Tomcat - Security constraints not correctly applied	Critical	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-9m89-8frq-c98c Apache Tomcat - AJP secret compared in non-constant time	Low	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-5mp6-jrq3-r938 Apache Tomcat: LockOutRealm treats user names as case-sensitive	High	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
GHSA-h6fc-48rj-7qqh Apache Tomcat - Digest authenticator will authenticate any unknown user	Critical	Also affects org.apache.tomcat:tomcat

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