GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-264 vulnerability in org.apache.tomcat:tomcat. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 13.1% (96th percentile). A fix is available for org.apache.tomcat:tomcat — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Access Control in Apache Tomcat
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
GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw 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 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% 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☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcatReal-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
The session-persistence implementation in Apache Tomcat 6.x before 6.0.45, 7.x before 7.0.68, 8.x before 8.0.31, and 9.x before 9.0.0.M2 mishandles session attributes, which allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended SecurityManager restrictions and execute arbitrary code in a privileged context via a web application that places a crafted object in a session.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat | ≥ 9.0.0.M1&&< 9.0.0.M2 | 9.0.0.M2org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:9.0.0.M2 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat | ≥ 8.0.0.RC1&&< 8.0.32 | 8.0.32org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:8.0.32 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.70 | 7.0.70org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:7.0.70 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat | ≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.0.46 | 6.0.46org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:6.0.46 |
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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 9.0.0.M2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw 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 GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw. 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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | tomcat6-0:6.0.24-98.el6_8 | RHSA-2016:2045 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | tomcat-0:7.0.69-10.el7 | RHSA-2016:2599 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 2 for RHEL 6 | tomcat7-0:7.0.54-23_patch_05.ep6.el6 | RHSA-2016:2807 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 2.1 | tomcat7 | RHSA-2016:2808 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3.0 | see advisory | RHSA-2016:1089 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3 for RHEL 6 | httpd24-0:2.4.6-61.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2016:1087 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3 for RHEL 7 | httpd24-0:2.4.6-61.ep7.el7 | RHSA-2016:1088 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-mv42-px54-87jw across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.