GHSA-p543-jg43-9pm5 CVE-2002-0493

Apache Tomcat may be started without proper security settings

High Maven

Severity: High; The publisher's own rating, not a CVSS score
Exploit chance (EPSS): 3.80%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 90.02% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: CWE-276 Incorrect Default Permissions
Fix: 4.0b7; Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to this version or later

Description

Apache Tomcat may be started without proper security settings if errors are encountered while reading the web.xml file, which could allow attackers to bypass intended restrictions.

Affected versions

Maven

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat	`< 4.0b7`	`4.0b7`

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 → `4.0b7`

maven

<dependency><groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId><artifactId>tomcat</artifactId><version>4.0b7</version></dependency>

gradle

implementation("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:4.0b7")

Weakness

CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions

During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design, Operation: The architecture needs to access and modification attributes for files to only those users who actually require those actions.
Architecture and Design: Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

References

Advisories

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2002-0493

Packages

github.com/apache/tomcat

Timeline

Apr 30, 2022 Published
Feb 12, 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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