How severe is CVE-2008-5515?

CVE-2008-5515 has a CVSS score of 5.3/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2008-5515?

CVE-2008-5515 affects the following packages: org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven), org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven), org.apache.tomcat:tomcat (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2008-5515?

Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 4.1.40 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2008-5515 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2008-5515 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2008-5515 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Is CVE-2008-5515 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2008-5515 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2008-5515?

CVE-2008-5515 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 18.7%, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2008-5515?

CVE-2008-5515 is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2008-5515 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2008-5515 was published on May 14, 2022 and was last updated on February 21, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2008-5515 — tomcat

MEDIUMFix: apache/tomcat@6b61911

CVE-2008-5515 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat:tomcat. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 18.7% (97th percentile). A fix is available for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Directory Traversal in Apache Tomcat

Published

May 14, 2022

Updated

Feb 21, 2024

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 2, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

18.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs97th percentile — riskier than 97% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected

☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Apache Tomcat 4.1.0 through 4.1.39, 5.5.0 through 5.5.27, 6.0.0 through 6.0.18, and possibly earlier versions normalizes the target pathname before filtering the query string when using the RequestDispatcher method, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and conduct directory traversal attacks via .. (dot dot) sequences and the WEB-INF directory in a Request.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat`	≥ 4.1.0&&< 4.1.40	4.1.40`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:4.1.40`
☕Maven	`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat`	≥ 5.5.0&&< 5.5.28	5.5.28`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:5.5.28`
☕Maven	`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat`	≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.0.20	6.0.20`org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:6.0.20`

Affected Products

1 product · 80 configurations

Application

tomcatapache

80 versions

4.1.04.1.14.1.24.1.34.1.104.1.114.1.124.1.134.1.144.1.154.1.164.1.17

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 4.1.40 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2008-5515 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatImportant

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
JBEAP 4.2.0 for RHEL 4	`hibernate3-1:3.2.4-1.SP1_CP08.0jpp.ep1.2.el4`	RHSA-2009:1144
JBEAP 4.2.0 for RHEL 5	`hibernate3-1:3.2.4-1.SP1_CP08.0jpp.ep1.2.3.el5`	RHSA-2009:1143
JBEWS 1.0 for RHEL 4	`tomcat5-0:5.5.23-1.patch07.19.ep5.el4`	RHSA-2009:1454
JBEWS 1.0 for RHEL 4	`tomcat6-0:6.0.18-11.3.ep5.el4`	RHSA-2009:1506
Red Hat Certificate System 7.3	`ant-0:1.6.5-1jpp_1rh`	RHSA-2010:0602
Red Hat Developer Suite V.3	`tomcat5-0:5.5.23-0jpp_18rh`	RHSA-2009:1563
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5	`tomcat5-0:5.5.23-0jpp.7.el5_3.2`	RHSA-2009:1164
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 4.3 for RHEL 4	`glassfish-jaxb-0:2.1.4-1.11.ep1.el4`	RHSA-2009:1146

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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