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CVE-2026-68525 – Security Constraint Bypass (Authorization Bypass) – Apache Tomcat 7.0.0–7.0.109, 8.

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Summary

CVE-2026-68525 is an incorrect authorization vulnerability (CWE-863) in Apache Tomcat’s FORM authentication mechanism. The redirect that occurs after FORM authentication completes can be manipulated to bypass a security constraint that was configured to permit GET requests to a resource while denying POST requests. Apache’s own advisory rates the issue Low severity, while the published CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Technical details

  • Root cause: After a successful FORM-based login, Tomcat’s post-authentication redirect logic does not correctly re-enforce HTTP method-specific security constraints on the originally requested resource.
  • Trigger conditions: A <security-constraint> is defined restricting a resource to specific HTTP methods (e.g., allow GET, deny POST) and the application uses FORM authentication.
  • Attack vector: Network — remote, unauthenticated attacker crafts a request that traverses the FORM-auth redirect flow to reach the restricted method on the target resource.
  • Impact: Bypass of method-specific access controls, allowing an attacker to invoke a POST (state-changing) operation on a resource that was intended to be reachable only via GET, potentially exposing or modifying protected data.

Affected software

  • Apache Tomcat 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.24
  • Apache Tomcat 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.57
  • Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 through 9.0.120
  • Apache Tomcat 8.5.0 through 8.5.100 (end of life)
  • Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 through 7.0.109 (end of life)

Severity

CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.1 (Critical)
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade to Apache Tomcat 11.0.25, 10.1.58, or 9.0.121, all of which contain the fix.
  • If no patch is available: Tomcat 7.0.x and 8.5.x are end of life and will not receive an official fix; migrate to a supported major version (9.0.121+, 10.1.58+, or 11.0.25+). As an interim mitigation, avoid relying solely on HTTP-method-restricted <security-constraint> entries combined with FORM authentication to protect sensitive POST operations — enforce equivalent authorization checks at the application layer as well.

How IONIX identifies potentially affected assets

IONIX matches the following signals against data already collected when it crawled the asset; identifying the technology sends no request beyond that crawl.

  • Page title: Apache Tomcat 9 (9.0.100), Apache Tomcat/9.0.100
  • Raw response body: <h1>Apache Tomcat/9.0.100</h1>, <p>Apache Tomcat/9.0.100</p>, If you're seeing this, you've successfully installed Tomcat

References

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