CVE-2024-56337
CRITICALCVE-2024-56337 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-367 vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-56337 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Apache Tomcat: RCE due to TOCTOU issue in JSP compilation - CVE-2024-50379 mitigation was incomplete
Blast Radius
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-embed-core☕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
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition vulnerability in Apache Tomcat.
This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.1, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.33, from 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.97. 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.
The mitigation for CVE-2024-50379 was incomplete.
Users running Tomcat on a case insensitive file system with the default servlet write enabled (readonly initialisation parameter set to the non-default value of false) may need additional configuration to fully mitigate CVE-2024-50379 depending on which version of Java they are using with Tomcat:
- running on Java 8 or Java 11: the system property sun.io.useCanonCaches must be explicitly set to false (it defaults to true)
- running on Java 17: the system property sun.io.useCanonCaches, if set, must be set to false (it defaults to false)
- running on Java 21 onwards: no further configuration is required (the system property and the problematic cache have been removed)
Tomcat 11.0.3, 10.1.35 and 9.0.99 onwards will include checks that sun.io.useCanonCaches is set appropriately before allowing the default servlet to be write enabled on a case insensitive file system. Tomcat will also set sun.io.useCanonCaches to false by default where it can.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina | ≥ 11.0.0-M1&&< 11.0.2 | 11.0.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina | ≥ 10.1.0-M1&&< 10.1.34 | 10.1.34 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 9.0.0.M1&&< 9.0.98 | 9.0.98 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 11.0.0-M1&&< 11.0.2 | 11.0.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 10.1.0-M1&&< 10.1.34 | 10.1.34 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 9.0.0.M1&&< 9.0.98 | 9.0.98 |
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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina to 11.0.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-56337 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-56337 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2024-56337. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-56337 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-56337 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.