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TomcatWeb server / proxy · Apache

CVE-2025-49124

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0.106 / 10.1.42 or later.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Untrusted Search Path vulnerability in Apache Tomcat installer for Windows. During installation, the Tomcat installer for Windows used icacls.exe without specifying a full path. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.7, from 10.1.0 through 10.1.41, from 9.0.23 through 9.0.105. The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.0 through 8.5.100 and 7.0.95 through 7.0.109. Other EOL versions may also be affected. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.8, 10.1.42 or 9.0.106, which fix the issue.

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

The Apache Tomcat Windows installer uses icacls.exe without specifying a full path, allowing the operating system to search the PATH environment variable. An attacker with write access to a directory in PATH could place a malicious icacls.exe that gets executed during installation, potentially leading to privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade to Tomcat 11.0.8, 10.1.42, or 9.0.106, which contain the fix. Alternatively, use the Windows zip distribution instead of the installer.

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:>= 9.0.23, < 9.0.106>= 10.1.0, < 10.1.42>= 11.0.0, < 11.0.8

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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. Confirm Windows environment
    Verify the operating system is Windows, since this vulnerability only affects the Windows installer
    Affected if Running on Windows means the installer could be vulnerable; this is Windows-specific
  2. Identify installed Apache Tomcat version
    Check the version of Apache Tomcat installed by locating the server JAR (catalina.jar) or checking the product version through the Windows installed programs list
    Affected if Version is 9.0.23 through 9.0.105, 10.1.0 through 10.1.41, or 11.0.0 through 11.0.7 indicates the installer could be vulnerable
  3. Determine if Windows installer was used
    Confirm the installation method used was the Windows installer (.exe) rather than a ZIP distribution or manual deployment
    Affected if The Windows installer was used means the vulnerable icacls.exe call could have been executed during installation
  4. Inspect system PATH for writable directories
    Review the system PATH environment variable and check permissions on each directory to identify any locations where an unprivileged user could write files
    Affected if Any directory in PATH is writable by a non-admin user creates the condition for privilege escalation

A Windows user with an affected Tomcat version (9.0.23-9.0.105, 10.1.0-10.1.41, or 11.0.0-11.0.7) who used the Windows installer and has writable PATH directories is vulnerable to privilege escalation via icacls.exe hijacking

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 9.0.106 / 10.1.42 / 11.0.8 or later
Fixed in 9.0.10610.1.4211.0.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Tomcat 11.0.8, 10.1.42, or 9.0.106, which contain the fix. Alternatively, use the Windows zip distribution instead of the installer.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Tomcat 9.0.106, 10.1.42, or 11.0.8 depending on your current major version

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Apache Tomcat version by checking the $CATALINA_HOME/release.properties or the About information in the Windows installer.
  2. 2. Determine which major version line you are on (9.0.x, 10.1.x, or 11.0.x) to select the appropriate upgrade path.
  3. 3. Download the Windows installer (.exe) for the fixed version from the Apache Tomcat website: https://tomcat.apache.org/download-90.cgi for 9.0.106, https://tomcat.apache.org/download-110.cgi for 10.1.42, or https://tomcat.apache.org/download-110.cgi for 11.0.8.
  4. 4. Before running the new installer, stop any running Tomcat services or processes that use the current installation.
  5. 5. Backup your existing Tomcat installation directory, configuration files, and deployed applications.
  6. 6. Run the new installer and follow the prompts to upgrade the existing installation, or install to a new location and migrate configurations.
  7. 7. After installation, verify the icacls.exe calls in the installer scripts now use full paths (or have been fixed).
  8. 8. Start the Tomcat service and verify the application functions correctly.
Caveat Minor; this fix addresses the Windows installer security issue without changing core Tomcat functionality, but always test application compatibility when upgrading

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

Fix this in Tomcat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2025-49124 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