CVE-2024-38286 — tomcat-coyote
HIGHCVE-2024-38286 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) CWE-770 vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote. A fix is available for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Tomcat: Denial of Service
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-38286.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-38286 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core+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
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Apache Tomcat.
This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.0-M20, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.24, from 9.0.13 through 9.0.89.
The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.35 through 8.5.100 and 7.0.92 through 7.0.109. Other EOL versions may also be affected.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.0-M21, 10.1.25, or 9.0.90, which fixes the issue.
Apache Tomcat, under certain configurations on any platform, allows an attacker to cause an OutOfMemoryError by abusing the TLS handshake process.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 11.0.0-M1&&< 11.0.0-M21 | 11.0.0-M21org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:11.0.0-M21 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 10.1.0-M1&&< 10.1.25 | 10.1.25org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:10.1.25 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 9.0.13&&< 9.0.90 | 9.0.90org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:9.0.90 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 8.5.35 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 7.0.92 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 11.0.0-M1&&< 11.0.0-M21 | 11.0.0-M21org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:11.0.0-M21 |
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-coyote, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote to 11.0.0-M21 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-38286 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-38286 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-38286. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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.
CVE-2024-38286 represents an important security issue due to its potential to cause an `OutOfMemoryError` through the exploitation of the TLS handshake process in Apache Tomcat. This vulnerability specifically impacts configurations using TLS 1.3, which is increasingly adopted for secure communications. The ability…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | tomcat-1:9.0.87-1.el8_10.2 | RHSA-2024:5694 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Advanced Update Support | pki-deps:10.6-8020020241017135048.4cda2c84 | RHSA-2024:8567 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support | pki-deps:10.6-8040020241017141927.522a0ee4 | RHSA-2024:8497 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support | pki-deps:10.6-8060020241017143140.ad008a3a | RHSA-2024:8572 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support | tomcat-1:9.0.87-1.el8_8.3 | RHSA-2024:5695 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support | pki-core:10.6-8080020241014201334.693a3987 | RHSA-2024:8543 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | tomcat-1:9.0.87-1.el9_4.2 | RHSA-2024:5693 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Extended Update Support | pki-servlet-engine-1:9.0.43-4.el9_0.1 | RHSA-2024:8528 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-38286 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-38286 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.