Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2017-12615

Apache Tomcat

Apache Tomcat · 7.0.0 to 7.0.79

Watch CVE-2017-12615 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.1 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
99.6%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2017-12615 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Apache Tomcat. When running Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.79 on Windows with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g. via setting the readonly initialisation parameter of the...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.79.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

When running Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.79 on Windows with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g

When running Apache Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.79 on Windows with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g. via setting the readonly initialisation parameter of the Default to false) it was possible to upload a JSP file to the server via a specially crafted request.

This JSP could then be requested and any code it contained would be executed by the server.

Apache Software Foundation Affected
Apache Tomcat
7.0.0 to 7.0.79
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
19 Sep 2017
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

nuclei_scanner malware apache windows ransomware cisa

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 23 Sep 2017

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-25 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-07-15 00:00 UTC
CVE 2026-08-01 04:50 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-12615.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.1 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

99.6%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type CWE-434

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 8.1 High

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

CVSS v2.0 6.8 Medium

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Apache Tomcat Servers - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 04:50 UTC

    KEV confirmed by CVE

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  3. 14:20 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  6. 00:00 UTC

    First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  7. 13:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2017-12615

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2017-12615",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.1,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99641,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}