CVE Intelligence
Medium Access control

CVE-2012-4431 — Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in Apache Software Foundation Tomcat

org/apache/catalina/filters/CsrfPreventionFilter.java in Apache Tomcat 6.x before 6.0.36 and 7.x before 7.0.32 allows remote attackers to bypass the cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection mechanism via a request that lacks a session identifier.

Published Dec 19, 2012 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: redhat

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 9.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+14
  • Technical severity (medium)+3
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
9.15%
ahead of 95% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Apache Software Foundation
Tomcat
CVSS base
4.3
Medium · 1 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — svn.apache.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — svn.apache.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — svn.apache.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Apache Software Foundation Tomcat).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  4. EPSS ahead of 95% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  5. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (access control), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Apache Software Foundation Tomcat version 7.0.2version 7.0.8version 7.0.7version 7.0.6version 7.0.5version 7.0.4-betaversion 7.0.4version 7.0.3
and 64 more version 7.0.2-betaversion 7.0.9version 7.0.1version 7.0.0-betaversion 7.0.0version 6.0.35version 6.0.33version 6.0.32version 6.0.31version 6.0.30version 7.0.18version 7.0.30version 7.0.28version 7.0.25version 7.0.23version 7.0.22version 7.0.21version 7.0.20version 7.0.19version 6.0.29version 7.0.17version 7.0.16version 7.0.15version 7.0.14version 7.0.13version 7.0.12version 7.0.11version 7.0.10version 6.0.4version 6.0.8version 6.0.7-betaversion 6.0.7-alphaversion 6.0.7version 6.0.6-alphaversion 6.0.6version 6.0.5version 6.0.4-alphaversion 6.0.8-alphaversion 6.0.3version 6.0.2-betaversion 6.0.2-alphaversion 6.0.2version 6.0.1-alphaversion 6.0.1version 6.0.0-alphaversion 6.0.0version 6.0.16version 6.0.28version 6.0.27version 6.0.26version 6.0.24version 6.0.20version 6.0.19version 6.0.18version 6.0.17version 6.0version 6.0.15version 6.0.14version 6.0.13version 6.0.12version 6.0.11version 6.0.10version 6.0.9-betaversion 6.0.9
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Medium
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
4.3 CVSS 2.0 Medium 8.6 2.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-264 · Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 9.15%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Audit administrative actions and access to resources outside each user’s normal pattern.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logsapplication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 4.3
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2012
  • CVE published
    Dec 19, 2012 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

25 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Apache Software Foundation
every CVE for this vendor
Access control
same class
CWE-264
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-87022 Apache Tomcat: WebSocket message smuggling with per-message-deflate 22d
  • CVE-2026-86350 Apache Tomcat: Regression in fix for CVE-2026-41293 can trigger request header mix-up 22d
  • CVE-2026-86248 Apache Tomcat: Fix for CVE-2026-34500 was incomplete. OCSP checks sometimes soft-fail with FFM even when soft-fail is disabled 22d
  • CVE-2026-78437 Apache Tomcat: HTTP/2 DoS via malformed request 22d
  • CVE-2026-78383 Apache Tomcat: AJP DoS via missing request body 22d
  • CVE-2026-79677 Apache Tomcat: WebSocket DoS due to lost asynchronous write timeout 22d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2012-4431 is "Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls in Apache Software Foundation Tomcat", rated Medium. It affects Tomcat (Apache Software Foundation); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 4.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 9.15% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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