CVE-2024-54677 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) found in the examples web application included with Apache Tomcat, a widely used open-source Java Servlet container. The flaw exists in multiple versions of Tomcat, specifically from 8.5.0 through 8.5.100 (EOL), 9.0.0.M1 through 9.9.97, 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.33, and 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.1. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger excessive resource consumption, such as CPU or memory, by sending crafted requests to the vulnerable example application. This leads to denial of service (DoS) conditions, where legitimate users may be unable to access services hosted on the affected Tomcat server. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but affects availability. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3, reflecting medium severity due to network attack vector, no privileges or user interaction required, and impact limited to availability. No known public exploits or active exploitation have been reported at the time of disclosure. The Apache Software Foundation has addressed the issue in Tomcat versions 11.0.2, 10.1.34, and 9.0.98. Users running affected versions are strongly recommended to upgrade to these patched releases to mitigate the risk. The vulnerability primarily resides in the example web application, which may be deployed by default or used for testing purposes, but if exposed in production environments, it can be leveraged to disrupt service availability.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2024-54677 is the risk of denial of service attacks against web applications running on vulnerable Apache Tomcat servers. This can lead to service outages, degraded performance, and potential operational disruption, especially for critical infrastructure, government portals, financial services, and large enterprises that rely heavily on Tomcat for hosting Java-based web applications. The vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity but can cause significant availability issues, potentially affecting business continuity and user trust. Organizations with publicly accessible Tomcat instances or those exposing the example web application are at higher risk. The medium severity score suggests moderate impact, but the ease of exploitation (no authentication or user interaction required) increases the threat level. In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and public administration across Europe, service availability is crucial, and disruptions could have cascading effects. Additionally, the presence of end-of-life versions in some environments may complicate mitigation efforts, increasing exposure. The lack of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks once exploit code becomes available.

1. Immediate upgrade to Apache Tomcat versions 11.0.2, 10.1.34, or 9.0.98, which contain the fix for this vulnerability. 2. Audit all Tomcat deployments to identify if the example web application is enabled or exposed, and disable or remove it in production environments if not required. 3. Implement network-level protections such as web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block abnormal request patterns that could indicate resource exhaustion attempts. 4. Monitor server resource usage (CPU, memory, threads) closely to identify unusual spikes that may signal exploitation attempts. 5. Restrict access to management and example applications to trusted internal networks or via VPN to reduce exposure. 6. Regularly review and update patch management processes to ensure timely application of security updates, especially for widely used infrastructure components like Tomcat. 7. Consider deploying rate limiting and connection throttling to mitigate potential DoS attacks. 8. Educate system administrators about the risks of running example or demo applications in production and enforce secure deployment guidelines.