CVE-2020-1938 — tomcat-embed-core
CRITICALCVE-2020-1938 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Privilege Management in Tomcat
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-03. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-03-17.
- 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-2020-1938.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-1938 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 394,803 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.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-coreReal-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
When using the Apache JServ Protocol (AJP), care must be taken when trusting incoming connections to Apache Tomcat. Tomcat treats AJP connections as having higher trust than, for example, a similar HTTP connection. If such connections are available to an attacker, they can be exploited in ways that may be surprising. In Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.30, 8.5.0 to 8.5.50 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.99, Tomcat shipped with an AJP Connector enabled by default that listened on all configured IP addresses. It was expected (and recommended in the security guide) that this Connector would be disabled if not required. This vulnerability report identified a mechanism that allowed: - returning arbitrary files from anywhere in the web application - processing any file in the web application as a JSP Further, if the web application allowed file upload and stored those files within the web application (or the attacker was able to control the content of the web application by some other means) then this, along with the ability to process a file as a JSP, made remote code execution possible. It is important to note that mitigation is only required if an AJP port is accessible to untrusted users. Users wishing to take a defence-in-depth approach and block the vector that permits returning arbitrary files and execution as JSP may upgrade to Apache Tomcat 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later. A number of changes were made to the default AJP Connector configuration in 9.0.31 to harden the default configuration. It is likely that users upgrading to 9.0.31, 8.5.51 or 7.0.100 or later will need to make small changes to their configurations.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.31 | 9.0.31org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:9.0.31 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 8.0.0&&< 8.5.51 | 8.5.51org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:8.5.51 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.100 | 7.0.100org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:7.0.100 |
Affected Products
geodeapachetomcatapachegood controlblackberryworkspaces serverblackberrydebian linuxdebianfedorafedoraprojectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
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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.embed:tomcat-embed-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core to 9.0.31 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-1938 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.
Please refer to the Red Hat knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4851251 and CVE page https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2020-1745
Please refer to the Red Hat knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4851251Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2020-1938 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | tomcat6-0:6.0.24-114.el6_10 | RHSA-2020:0912 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | tomcat-0:7.0.76-11.el7_7 | RHSA-2020:0855 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 Extended Update Support | tomcat-0:7.0.76-10.el7_6 | RHSA-2020:2840 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | pki-core:10.6-8030020200911215836.5ff1562f | RHSA-2020:4847 |
| Red Hat Fuse 7.9 | tomcat | RHSA-2021:3140 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 | jbossweb | RHSA-2020:1479 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 | jbossweb | RHSA-2020:2783 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 for RHEL 5 | jbossweb-0:7.5.30-2.Final_redhat_2.1.ep6.el5 | RHSA-2020:1478 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-1938 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.