CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-46701NVD status: Modified

Apache Tomcat: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2025-46701 is a high-severity improper handling of case sensitivity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat from Apache, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Apache Tomcat versions: 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.6; 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.40; 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.104, and others listed below. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 3.14% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 88% of scored CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Tomcat to 9.0.105 or 10.1.41 or 11.0.7, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on lists.apache.org for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
ApacheApache Tomcat11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.6; 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.40; 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.104; 8.5.0 through 8.5.100Not stated
ApacheTomcat9.0.0 up to, but not including, 9.0.105; 10.1.0 up to, but not including, 10.1.41; 11.0.0 up to, but not including, 11.0.79.0.105, 10.1.41, 11.0.7

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
LowSome restricted data can be read.
Integrity
LowLimited modification of data is possible.
Availability
LowPerformance or availability is reduced.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L. Scored by CISA (ADP).

Official description

Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat's GCI servlet allows security constraint bypass of security constraints that apply to the pathInfo component of a URI mapped to the CGI servlet. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.6, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.40, from 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.104. 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. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.7, 10.1.41 or 9.0.105, which fixes the issue.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity

The product does not properly account for differences in case sensitivity when accessing or determining the properties of a resource, leading to inconsistent results.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
  • Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.

More Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities (CWE-178)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Third-party and government advisories

Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat

All Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities

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