A critical security flaw—Apache Tomcat vulnerability CVE-2025-24813—has been discovered, threatening the integrity of countless web servers worldwide. Security researchers have identified the vulnerability as a high-severity issue that can allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (DoS) on unpatched systems running affected versions of Apache Tomcat.
The Apache Software Foundation has confirmed the vulnerability and issued a security advisory urging all administrators to apply the latest patches immediately. This exploit affects Apache Tomcat versions 10.1.3 through 10.1.8 and 9.0.70 through 9.0.91.
What Is CVE-2025-24813?
The Apache Tomcat vulnerability CVE-2025-24813 is a Remote Code Execution (RCE) risk stemming from improper input validation within the HTTP/2 request processing module. Under certain conditions, a specially crafted request can bypass security constraints, leading to unauthorized access or full server compromise.
According to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database, the flaw carries a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) score of 9.1, placing it firmly in the critical severity range.
Who Is Affected?
Any enterprise, developer, or hosting provider using affected versions of Apache Tomcat is at risk. This includes:
- Web applications hosted on Tomcat without input sanitization.
- Cloud services relying on embedded Tomcat servers.
- Development environments running default Tomcat configurations.
Servers exposed to the internet are especially vulnerable to automated scanning tools already looking for open vectors based on Apache Tomcat vulnerability CVE-2025-24813.
Mitigation and Patch Availability
Apache has released updated versions—Tomcat 10.1.9 and 9.0.79—to address the vulnerability. System administrators are strongly encouraged to:
- Upgrade to the patched versions immediately.
- Review server logs for unusual HTTP/2 request patterns.
- Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or reverse proxies for additional filtering.
Temporary workarounds may include disabling HTTP/2 support, but this may affect performance and compatibility for certain applications.
Security Community Response
Cybersecurity experts have praised the quick response from Apache but warned that delays in patch adoption could lead to mass exploitation.
“With the level of severity seen in CVE-2025-24813, threat actors will waste no time scanning for unpatched servers,” said Maya Trent, a vulnerability analyst at VulnTrack. “Organizations must act fast to secure their infrastructure.”
Security forums and GitHub repositories are already seeing proof-of-concept scripts, increasing the urgency to patch before threat actors exploit the flaw at scale.
Server Security
The discovery of Apache Tomcat vulnerability CVE-2025-24813 serves as a stark reminder of the importance of regular patching and proactive server security. As Apache Tomcat powers a significant portion of web-based applications, unpatched instances could lead to data breaches, service disruptions, and reputational damage.
Organizations are urged to treat this vulnerability with the highest priority and ensure all exposed services are secured against potential exploitation.
