Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2017-12617

Apache Tomcat

Apache Tomcat · 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0

Watch CVE-2017-12617 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.1 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
100.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2017-12617 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Apache Tomcat. When running Apache Tomcat versions 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0, 8.5.0 to 8.5.22, 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.46 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.81 with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g....

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV.

Who is affected?

Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.m1 to 9.0.0.

What should we do?

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

Overview

Apache Tomcat

When running Apache Tomcat versions 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0, 8.5.0 to 8.5.22, 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.46 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.81 with HTTP PUTs enabled (e.g. via setting the readonly initialisation parameter of the Default servlet 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
9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.0 8.5.0 to 8.5.22 8.0.0.RC1 to 8.0.46 7.0.0 to 7.0.81
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
03 Oct 2017
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa metasploit nuclei_scanner apache

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.

Proof of concept available

Recorded 28 Apr 2025

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

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
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/tomcat_jsp_upload_bypass.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-12617.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

100.0%

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 - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

tomcat_jsp_upload_bypass

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2017-12617

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. 15:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. 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.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • 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-2017-12617

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2017-12617",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.1,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99968,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}