CVE-2025-31650
Apache Tomcat 9.0.76 – 9.0.104
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-31650 is a high-severity Incomplete Cleanup (CWE-459) vulnerability in Apache Tomcat. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-14 (Non-persistence) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-31650 is an improper input validation vulnerability in Apache Tomcat that stems from incorrect error handling of certain invalid HTTP priority headers. The flaw leaves request objects incompletely cleaned up, producing a memory leak; repeated exploitation can exhaust heap memory and trigger an OutOfMemoryException. The issue affects Tomcat 9.0.76–9.0.102, 10.1.10–10.1.39, and 11.0.0-M2–11.0.5, as well as the end-of-life branches 8.5.90–8.5.100.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send a stream of specially crafted HTTP requests containing malformed priority headers. Because no authentication or user interaction is required and the attack requires only network reachability, an adversary can induce a denial of service by forcing the server to terminate after memory exhaustion. The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5 reflects the high availability impact combined with low attack complexity.
Apache Tomcat project advisories and downstream distributions such as Debian LTS recommend immediate upgrade to the fixed releases 9.0.104, 10.1.40, or 11.0.6. The referenced vendor announcements and oss-security postings contain the same upgrade guidance and note that no configuration work-arounds are provided.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-13627
Vulnerability Data
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache Tomcat. Incorrect error handling for some invalid HTTP priority headers resulted in incomplete clean-up of the failed request which created a memory leak. A large number of such requests could trigger an OutOfMemoryException resulting…
more
in a denial of service. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 9.0.76 through 9.0.102, from 10.1.10 through 10.1.39, from 11.0.0-M2 through 11.0.5. The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.90 though 8.5.100. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 9.0.104, 10.1.40 or 11.0.6 which fix the issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V6.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover incomplete cleanup through dynamic analysis or resource-leak testing.
Non-persistence mechanisms explicitly initiate resources in a known state and terminate them, directly enforcing cleanup.
Session termination forces explicit release of session-related temporary resources.
Preventing unintended information transfer through shared resources requires complete cleanup of those resources.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices and coding standards normally require proper resource release and cleanup.
Life-cycle management encompasses disposal of temporary resources but does not specifically target runtime cleanup bugs.
Explicitly calls for removing sensitive data after use, directly addressing one class of incomplete cleanup.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Explicitly requires secure deletion of temporary or residual data, directly addressing incomplete cleanup.
SDLC practices include cleanup steps, yet the weakness can still occur if those steps are omitted.
Secure-coding rules can mandate explicit cleanup of temporary resources, but do not guarantee it.
Change-management processes may require cleanup verification, but the control itself does not address the weakness.