When running on Windows with enableCmdLineArguments enabled, the CGI Servlet in Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.17, 8.5.0 to 8.5.39 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.93 is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution due to a bug in the way the JRE passes command line arguments to Windows. The CGI Servlet is disabled by default. The CGI option enableCmdLineArguments is disable by default in Tomcat 9.0.x (and will be disabled by default in all versions in response to this vulnerability). For a detailed explanation of the JRE behaviour, see Markus Wulftange's blog (https://codewhitesec.blogspot.com/2016/02/java-and-command-line-injections-in-windows.html) and this archived MSDN blog (https://web.archive.org/web/20161228144344/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/twistylittlepassagesallalike/2011/04/23/everyone-quotes-command-line-arguments-the-wrong-way/).
CVE-2019-0232
CVSS base score
8.1 (v3.0)
Severity
HIGH
Attack vector
Network
Weakness
CWE-78
Last modified
November 2, 2026
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
apache tomcat
References
- packetstormsecurity.com
- seclists.org
- www.securityfocus.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- access.redhat.com
- blog.trendmicro.com
- codewhitesec.blogspot.com Third Party Advisory
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org