VulnerabilityPublished 7 Nov 2024Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-38286: Apache Tomcat · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects Apache TomcatSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.6 High · fixed in 11.0.0 : patch Apache Tomcat soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.6High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 76% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 11.0.0

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Nov 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Mavenorg.apache.tomcat/tomcat`pkg:maven/org.apache.tomcat/tomcat`Other threats	Affected 7.0.92 – 11.0.0-M20 <=10.1.24 <=9.0.89 <=8.5.100 <=7.0.109 6 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade Apache Tomcat to the fixed versions 11.0.0-M21, 10.1.25, or 9.0.90 as soon as possible to eliminate the vulnerability.
For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, implement network-level rate limiting on TLS handshake attempts to reduce the risk of resource exhaustion.
Monitor server memory usage and TLS handshake metrics to detect abnormal spikes indicative of exploitation attempts.
Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) capable of detecting and blocking anomalous TLS handshake patterns.
Review and harden TLS configuration to minimize unnecessary handshake overhead, such as disabling weak or unused cipher suites and protocols.
Isolate critical Tomcat servers behind secure network segments with strict access controls to limit exposure.
Maintain up-to-date incident response plans to quickly address potential DoS incidents.
Regularly audit and inventory Tomcat versions in use across the organization to ensure timely patch management.

Description

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in Apache Tomcat. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.0-M20, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.24, from 9.0.13 through 9.0.89. The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.35 through 8.5.100 and 7.0.92 through 7.0.109. Other EOL versions may also be affected. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.0-M21, 10.1.25, or 9.0.90, which fixes the issue. Apache Tomcat, under certain configurations on any platform, allows an attacker to cause an OutOfMemoryError by abusing the TLS handshake process.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact is service disruption due to denial-of-service attacks exploiting this vulnerability. Organizations running vulnerable Apache Tomcat versions in public-facing environments risk outages that can affect critical web applications, customer-facing portals, and internal services. This can lead to operational downtime, loss of business continuity, reputational damage, and potential regulatory scrutiny under frameworks like GDPR if service availability impacts data processing. Sectors such as finance, government, healthcare, and telecommunications, which heavily rely on Apache Tomcat for web services, are particularly vulnerable. The vulnerability could also be leveraged as part of a larger attack chain to distract or degrade defenses during more complex intrusions. Since the attack requires no authentication and can be performed remotely, threat actors can easily target exposed servers, increasing the likelihood of exploitation. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation before widespread attacks occur.

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #25
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
Requirements
Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
Architecture and Design
Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
Architecture and Design
Design throttling mechanisms into the system architecture. The best protection is to limit the amount of resources that an unauthorized user can cause to be expended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XML Ping of the Death (opens in a new tab)
Exponential Data Expansion (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data Parameter Blowup (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Nov 2025, 01:42 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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