CVE-2016-8735 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-05-12) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Tomcat Improper Access Control vulnerability
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-05-12. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2023-06-02.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2016-8735.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-8735 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina+2 moreReal-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
Remote code execution is possible with Apache Tomcat before 6.0.48, 7.x before 7.0.73, 8.x before 8.0.39, 8.5.x before 8.5.7, and 9.x before 9.0.0.M12 if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is used and an attacker can reach JMX ports. The issue exists because this listener wasn't updated for consistency with the CVE-2016-3427 Oracle patch that affected credential types.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote | all versions | 6.0.48org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote:6.0.48 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.73 | 7.0.73org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote:7.0.73 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote | ≥ 8.0.0&&< 8.0.39 | 8.0.39org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote:8.0.39 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote | ≥ 8.5.0&&< 8.5.7 | 8.5.7org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote:8.5.7 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote | ≥ 9.0.0.M1&&< 9.0.0.M12 | 9.0.0.M12org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote:9.0.0.M12 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina | all versions | 6.0.48org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina:6.0.48 |
Affected Products
tomcatapacheubuntu linuxcanonicaldebian linuxdebian7-mode transition toolnetapponcommand insightnetapponcommand shiftnetappResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina-jmx-remote to 6.0.48 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-8735 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3.1 | see advisory | RHSA-2017:0457 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3 for RHEL 6 | hibernate4-eap6-0:4.2.23-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep6.el6 | RHSA-2017:0455 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3 for RHEL 7 | hibernate4-eap6-0:4.2.23-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep6.el7 | RHSA-2017:0456 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-8735 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.