dbcve.org
TomcatWeb server / proxy · Apache

CVE-2003-0043

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-02-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Jakarta Tomcat before 3.3.1a, when used with JDK 1.3.1 or earlier, uses trusted privileges when processing the web.xml file, which could allow remote attackers to read portions of some files through the web.xml file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Jakarta Tomcat versions before 3.3.1a process the web.xml configuration file with trusted (elevated) privileges when running on JDK 1.3.1 or earlier. This improper privilege handling allows remote attackers to exploit the web.xml parsing to read portions of arbitrary files on the server through the vulnerability in how Tomcat handles the XML configuration.

MitigationUpgrade to Tomcat 3.3.1a or later, or migrate to JDK 1.4+ which is not affected by this issue.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
TomcatWeb server / proxy
Affected:= 3.0= 3.1= 3.1.1= 3.2= 3.2.1= 3.2.3= 3.2.4= 3.3= 3.3.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Tomcat version
    Check the release notes, version manifest, or the serverinfopage in the Tomcat manager application for the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version is 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.3, or 3.3.1
  2. Identify Java JDK version in use
    Run 'java -version' or check the JAVA_HOME environment variable to determine which JDK version is powering the Tomcat instance
    Affected if The JDK version is 1.3.1 or earlier (for example, 1.3.0, 1.2.x)
  3. Locate web.xml configuration file
    Find the web.xml file in the application's WEB-INF directory or in the conf directory of the Tomcat installation
    Affected if A web.xml configuration file exists and is being loaded by the Tomcat instance

You are affected if your Tomcat version is 3.0 through 3.3.1 AND you are running on JDK 1.3.1 or earlier, with a web.xml configuration file present.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Tomcat 3.3.1a or later, or migrate to JDK 1.4+ which is not affected by this issue.

Fix this in Tomcat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0043 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data