dbcve.org
TomcatWeb server / proxy · Apache

CVE-2010-4312

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-11-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
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
The default configuration of Apache Tomcat 6.x does not include the HTTPOnly flag in a Set-Cookie header, which makes it easier for remote attackers to hijack a session via script access to a cookie.

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

Apache Tomcat 6.x ships with a default configuration that does not set the HTTPOnly flag on session cookies. This allows client-side scripts to access cookies, enabling session hijacking via cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

MitigationEnable the HTTPOnly flag by configuring the Context or CookieProcessor in context.xml or server.xml to include the httpOnly="true" attribute, then restart Tomcat.

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:= 6.0= 6.0.0= 6.0.1= 6.0.2= 6.0.3= 6.0.4= 6.0.5= 6.0.6= 6.0.7= 6.0.8= 6.0.9= 6.0.10

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
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

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

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 version.jar or release file in the Tomcat installation directory, or query the server for the Server-Info page
    Affected if Version is 6.0.x where x is 0-10 (the affected range)
  2. Locate the context.xml configuration file
    Find the context.xml file either in $CATALINA_HOME/conf/context.xml (global) or in the web application's META-INF/context.xml (per-app)
    Affected if No context.xml exists or the file is missing the httpOnly configuration entirely
  3. Verify HTTPOnly flag configuration in context.xml
    Inspect the <Context> element for the cookies='true' attribute and check for httpOnly='true' in the <CookieProcessor> nested element or the <Manager> element
    Affected if The httpOnly attribute is absent, set to false, or the CookieProcessor element is missing the httpOnly='true' attribute
  4. Check server.xml for global HTTPOnly settings
    Inspect the <Context> elements in $CATALINA_HOME/conf/server.xml for httpOnly='true' attribute on the CookieProcessor or Manager element
    Affected if HTTPOnly is not configured globally in server.xml either

The environment is affected if Tomcat 6.0.x (versions 0-10) is running and the HTTPOnly flag is not enabled in the Context or CookieProcessor configuration files, allowing session cookies to be accessed via XSS.

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

Enable the HTTPOnly flag by configuring the Context or CookieProcessor in context.xml or server.xml to include the httpOnly="true" attribute, then restart Tomcat.

Fix this in Tomcat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2010-4312 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data