Overview
Apache Tomcat is an open-source web server and servlet container developed by the Apache Software Foundation. It implements several Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) specifications including Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), and WebSocket, allowing it to run Java web applications. Tomcat is widely used in both development and production environments due to its lightweight nature, ease of configuration, and compatibility with various Java applications.
An Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerability (CVE-2025-46701) has been identified in Apache Tomcat’s CGI servlet. This vulnerability allows bypass of security constraints that apply to the pathInfo component of a URI mapped to the CGI servlet.
Per Mitre: An Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerability is a security flaw where the product does not properly account for differences in case sensitivity when accessing or determining the properties of a resource, leading to inconsistent results.
This issue affects multiple versions of Apache Tomcat below 11.0.7.
Details
Module Info
- Product: Apache Tomcat
- Affected packages: tomcat-embed-core, tomcat-catalina
- Affected versions: >=9.0.0.M1 <9.0.105, >=10.1.0-M1 <10.1.41, >=11.0.0-M1 <11.0.7
- GitHub repository: https://github.com/apache/tomcat
- Published packages:
- Package manager: Maven
- Fixed in: NES 8.5.101, 9.0.105, 10.1.41, and 11.0.7
Vulnerability Info
An attacker of a vulnerable application can bypass case-sensitivity based security by providing pathInfo that uses alternative casing.
Mitigation
Only recent versions of Apache Tomcat are community-supported. The community support version will not receive any updates to address this issue. For more information, see here.
Users of the affected components should apply one of the following mitigations:
- Upgrade to a patched version of Apache Tomcat.
- Leverage a commercial support partner like HeroDevs for post-EOL security support.
Credit
- Greg K (https://github.com/gregk4sec) (finder)
