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🛡️ CVE-2023-46589 — tomcat

🟠 CVSS 8.0 — High ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-20 OSV
8.0
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Apache Tomcat Improper Input Validation vulnerability

Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache Tomcat. Tomcat from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.0-M10, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.15, from 9.0.0-M1 through 9.0.82, and from 8.5.0 through 8.5.95 did not correctly parse HTTP trailer headers. A trailer header that exceeded the header size limit could cause Tomcat to treat a single request as multiple requests leading to the possibility of request smuggling when behind a reverse proxy. Older, EOL versions may also be affected.

Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.0-M11 onwards, 10.1.16 onwards, 9.0.83 onwards or 8.5.96 onwards, which fix the issue.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity high, availability none.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: None — an unauthenticated stranger can try it.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Availability impact: None.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-46589 is classified as CWE-20: Improper Input Validation. The application accepts input without checking that it has the expected form, so malformed values reach code that assumes they are well formed.

Affected software

CVE-2023-46589 is recorded against 3 packages.

  • org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core (from 8.5.0 up to 8.5.96)
  • org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina (from 8.5.0 up to 8.5.96)
  • tomcat

Timeline and source

Published on 28 November 2023 and last revised on 7 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
lists.apache.org (Web)
lists.debian.org (Web)
security.netapp.com (Web)
tomcat.apache.org (Web)
tomcat.apache.org (Web)
tomcat.apache.org (Web)
tomcat.apache.org (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)

Other advisories for this package

org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) in other software:

CVE-2023-46589 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity HIGH
CVSS Score 8.0
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CWE CWE-20
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source OSV
Published 2023-11-28
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-07
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-catalina 8.5.0 8.5.96
org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core 8.5.0 8.5.96
tomcat — —

References

Site Security Check

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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