CVE Intelligence
High

CVE-2017-5664 — Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in Apache Tomcat

The error page mechanism of the Java Servlet Specification requires that, when an error occurs and an error page is configured for the error that occurred, the original request and response are forwarded to the error page. This means that the request is presented to the error page with the original HTTP method. If the error page is a static file, expected behaviour is to serve content of the file as if processing a GET request, regardless of the actual HTTP method. The Default Servlet in Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.M20, 8.5.0 to 8.5.14, 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.43 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.77 did not do this. Depending on the original request this could lead to unexpected and undesirable results for static error pages including, if the DefaultServlet is configured to permit writes, the replacement or removal of the custom error page. Notes for other user provided error pages: (1) Unless explicitly coded otherwise, JSPs ignore the HTTP method. JSPs used as error pages must must ensure that they handle any error dispatch as a GET request, regardless of the actual method. (2) By default, the response generated by a Servlet does depend on the HTTP method. Custom Servlets used as error pages must ensure that they handle any error dispatch as a GET request, regardless of the actual method.

Published Jun 6, 2017 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: apache

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 16.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
  • Technical severity (high)+6
  • 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
16.57%
ahead of 97% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Apache Software Foundation
Tomcat and 1 more
CVSS base
7.5
High · 2 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.

  • Maven Org.apache.tomcat:tomcat: fixed in version 9.0.0.M21 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Maven Org.apache.tomcat:tomcat: fixed in version 8.5.15 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Maven Org.apache.tomcat:tomcat: fixed in version 8.0.44 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Maven Org.apache.tomcat:tomcat: fixed in version 7.0.78 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)

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, Maven Org.apache.tomcat: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 97% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  5. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Apache Software Foundation Tomcat version 9.0.0-milestone20version 9.0.0-milestone1version 9.0.0-milestone10version 9.0.0-milestone11version 9.0.0-milestone12version 9.0.0-milestone13version 9.0.0-milestone14version 9.0.0-milestone15
and 153 more version 9.0.0-milestone16version 9.0.0-milestone17version 9.0.0-milestone18version 9.0.0-milestone19version 9.0.0-milestone2version 8.0.35version 9.0.0-milestone3version 9.0.0-milestone4version 9.0.0-milestone5version 9.0.0-milestone6version 9.0.0-milestone7version 9.0.0-milestone8version 9.0.0-milestone9version 8.5.13version 8.0.34version 8.0.36version 8.0.37version 8.0.38version 8.0.39version 8.0.40version 8.0.41version 8.0.42version 8.0.43version 8.5.0version 8.5.1version 8.5.2version 8.5.3version 8.5.4version 8.5.5version 8.5.6version 8.5.7version 8.5.8version 8.5.9version 8.5.10version 8.5.11version 8.5.12version 8.5.14version 7.0.0version 7.0.0-betaversion 7.0.1version 7.0.2version 7.0.2-betaversion 7.0.3version 7.0.4version 7.0.4-betaversion 7.0.5version 7.0.5-betaversion 7.0.6version 7.0.7version 7.0.8version 7.0.9version 7.0.10version 7.0.11version 7.0.12version 7.0.13version 7.0.14version 7.0.15version 7.0.16version 7.0.17version 7.0.18version 7.0.19version 7.0.20version 7.0.21version 7.0.22version 7.0.23version 7.0.24version 7.0.25version 7.0.26version 7.0.27version 7.0.28version 7.0.29version 7.0.30version 7.0.31version 7.0.32version 7.0.33version 7.0.34version 7.0.35version 7.0.36version 7.0.37version 7.0.38version 7.0.39version 7.0.40version 7.0.41version 7.0.42version 7.0.43version 7.0.44version 7.0.45version 7.0.46version 7.0.47version 7.0.48version 7.0.49version 7.0.50version 7.0.51version 7.0.54version 7.0.55version 7.0.56version 7.0.57version 7.0.58version 7.0.59version 7.0.60version 7.0.61version 7.0.62version 7.0.63version 7.0.64version 7.0.65version 7.0.66version 7.0.67version 7.0.68version 7.0.69version 7.0.70version 7.0.71version 7.0.72version 7.0.73version 7.0.74version 7.0.75version 7.0.76version 7.0.77version 8.0.0-rc1version 8.0.0-rc10version 8.0.0-rc3version 8.0.0-rc5version 8.0.1version 8.0.2version 8.0.3version 8.0.4version 8.0.5version 8.0.6version 8.0.7version 8.0.9version 8.0.10version 8.0.11version 8.0.12version 8.0.13version 8.0.14version 8.0.15version 8.0.16version 8.0.17version 8.0.18version 8.0.19version 8.0.20version 8.0.21version 8.0.22version 8.0.23version 8.0.24version 8.0.25version 8.0.26version 8.0.27version 8.0.28version 8.0.29version 8.0.30version 8.0.31version 8.0.32version 8.0.33
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Apache Software Foundation Tomcat version 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0.M20version 8.5.0 to 8.5.14version 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.43version 7.0.0 to 7.0.77 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Maven Org.apache.tomcat:tomcat ≥ 9.0.0.M1 and ≤ 9.0.0.M20≥ 8.5.0 and ≤ 8.5.14≥ 8.0.0 and ≤ 8.0.43≥ 7.0.0 and ≤ 7.0.77 Vulnerable GitHub Security Advisories

Attack characteristics

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

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
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
7.5 CVSS 3.0 High 3.9 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.5 CVSS 3.0 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
5.0 CVSS 2.0 Medium 10.0 2.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-755

Other CVEs with this weakness →

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).
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • Affected products added · maven/org.apache.tomcat:tomcat
    Oct 15, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • Affected products added · apache software foundation/apache tomcat
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Affected products added · apache/tomcat
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 7.5
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2017
  • CVE published
    Jun 6, 2017 · apache

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

66 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Apache Software Foundation
every CVE for this vendor
CWE-755
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-55956 Apache Tomcat: Security constraints for default servlet ignored method Jun 29, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55276 Apache Tomcat: Logged effective web.xml is incomplete Jun 29, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55955 Apache Tomcat: EncryptInterceptor not protected against replay attacks Jun 29, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55957 Apache Tomcat: Authentication bypass with JNDIRealm and GSSAPI authenticated bind Jun 29, 2026
  • CVE-2026-50229 Apache Tomcat: XSS in number guess example Jun 29, 2026
  • CVE-2026-53404 Apache Tomcat: Bad ornext processing in RewriteValve Jun 29, 2026

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-2017-5664 is "Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in Apache Tomcat", rated High. 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 7.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 16.57% 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.

Comments

Moderated technical discussion. Read the community guidelines.

No comments yet.

Sign in or create an account to comment and suggest corrections.