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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 2 Jun 2023.
TomcatWeb server / proxy · Apache

CVE-2016-8735

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-04-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.48 / 7.0.73 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Remote code execution is possible with Apache Tomcat before 6.0.48, 7.x before 7.0.73, 8.x before 8.0.39, 8.5.x before 8.5.7, and 9.x before 9.0.0.M12 if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is used and an attacker can reach JMX ports. The issue exists because this listener wasn't updated for consistency with the CVE-2016-3427 Oracle patch that affected credential types.

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's JmxRemoteLifecycleListener was not updated to align with the Oracle patch for CVE-2016-3427, which affected credential handling. This allows remote code execution when JMX ports are accessible to an attacker.

MitigationUpgrade to Tomcat 6.0.48+, 7.0.73+, 8.0.39+, 8.5.7+, or 9.0.0.M12+; if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is not required, disable it or restrict network access to JMX ports.

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:< 6.0.48>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.73>= 8.0, < 8.0.39>= 8.5.0, < 8.5.7= 9.0.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 16.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Jboss Enterprise Web ServerApplication
Affected:= 3.0.0
7 Mode Transition ToolApplication
Affected:all versions
Oncommand InsightApplication
Affected:all versions
Oncommand ShiftApplication
Affected:all versions
Snap Creator FrameworkApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Tomcat installation and version
    Locate the Tomcat installation directory (common paths: /usr/share/tomcat*, /opt/tomcat, or on Windows: C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat*). Check the RELEASE file or bin/version.sh for the exact version number.
    Affected if The installed version is < 6.0.48 OR >= 7.0.0 and < 7.0.73 OR >= 8.0 and < 8.0.39 OR >= 8.5.0 and < 8.5.7 OR = 9.0.0
  2. Determine if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is configured
    Examine the server.xml configuration file (typically in the conf/ directory of the Tomcat installation) for a <Listener> element with className="org.apache.catalina.mbeans.JmxRemoteLifecycleListener".
    Affected if The JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is present and configured in server.xml
  3. Identify configured JMX ports
    In the same server.xml, locate the rmiRegistryPortPlatform and rmiServerPortPlatform attributes within the JmxRemoteLifecycleListener to determine which ports are configured for JMX.
    Affected if JMX ports are explicitly configured in the listener (default values are 8050 and 8051)
  4. Verify JMX port network exposure
    Use netstat or ss commands to check if the identified JMX ports are listening on network interfaces accessible from untrusted networks (0.0.0.0 or non-loopback addresses). Example: netstat -tlnp | grep -E '8050|8051'
    Affected if The JMX ports are bound to 0.0.0.0 or an IP address accessible from untrusted networks

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Tomcat version AND has JmxRemoteLifecycleListener configured with JMX ports exposed to untrusted networks.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.0.48 / 7.0.73 / 8.0.39 or later
Fixed in 6.0.487.0.738.0.39
Vendor patch svn.apache.org →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Tomcat 6.0.48+, 7.0.73+, 8.0.39+, 8.5.7+, or 9.0.0.M12+; if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is not required, disable it or restrict network access to JMX ports.

Recommended fix High confidence

Tomcat 6.0.48+, 7.0.73+, 8.0.39+, 8.5.7+, or 9.0.0.M12+ (minimum fixed version based on your current major branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Apache Tomcat version by checking the $CATALINA_HOME/lib/catalina.jar manifest or running 'version.sh'
  2. 2. Identify if JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is configured in server.xml (look for <Listener className="org.apache.catalina.mbeans.JmxRemoteLifecycleListener".../>)
  3. 3. If JmxRemoteLifecycleListener is in use, upgrade Tomcat to a fixed version: 6.0.48+, 7.0.73+, 8.0.39+, 8.5.7+, or 9.0.0.M12+
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed version from https://tomcat.apache.org/
  5. 5. Stop the Tomcat service
  6. 6. Back up the current Tomcat installation directory
  7. 7. Extract the new version and migrate configuration files (server.xml, context.xml, etc.)
  8. 8. Start the Tomcat service and verify the application functions correctly
Caveat Upgrading Tomcat may introduce compatibility issues with custom Tomcat extensions, WAR files compiled against older APIs, or third-party libraries; test thoroughly in staging before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Tomcat Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2016-8735 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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