Apache Tomcat Flaw Added to US Cybersecurity Agency's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

US CISA Adds Apache Tomcat Flaw to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a critical flaw in Apache Tomcat to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-41064, is a remote code execution (RCE) flaw that can be exploited by an attacker to take control of an affected system.

Apache Tomcat is a widely-used open-source web server software, and the vulnerability affects versions 10.0.0 to 10.1.0. An attacker could exploit the flaw by sending a specially crafted HTTP request to the affected system, allowing them to execute arbitrary code on the system.

The CISA added the vulnerability to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on January 24, 2023, after determining that it had been actively exploited in the wild. The agency's catalog is used to track vulnerabilities that have been identified as being exploited by attackers, and it provides guidance to organizations on how to prioritize and remediate these vulnerabilities.

Organizations that use Apache Tomcat are advised to apply the available patches and updates to mitigate the risk of exploitation. CISA also recommends that organizations implement additional security controls, such as network segmentation and monitoring, to detect and respond to potential attacks.

The addition of this vulnerability to the CISA's catalog is a reminder of the importance of keeping software up to date and patching known vulnerabilities to prevent exploitation by attackers. It is also a reminder of the need for organizations to prioritize vulnerability management and incident response to minimize the impact of a potential attack.