Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2025-66614 is a critical-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Apache Tomcat. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 15th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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 SC-17 (Public Key Infrastructure Certificates) — 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-2025-66614 is an Improper Input Validation vulnerability (CWE-20, CWE-295) in Apache Tomcat. It affects versions 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.14, 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.49, and 9.0.0-M1 through 9.0.112. Additionally, end-of-life versions 8.5.0 through 8.5.100 are known to be vulnerable, while older EOL versions are not. The issue stems from Tomcat not validating that the hostname provided via the TLS SNI extension matches the hostname in the HTTP Host header field.
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no privileges or user interaction required (CVSS 9.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N). It applies only when Tomcat is configured with multiple virtual hosts, client certificate authentication is enforced at the Connector level for one host but not another, and authentication is not enforced at the web application level. By sending mismatched hostnames in the SNI extension and HTTP Host header, an attacker can bypass client certificate authentication on the protected virtual host, potentially gaining unauthorized access.
The Apache advisory recommends upgrading to Tomcat 11.0.15 or later, 10.1.50 or later, or 9.0.113 or later, which address the issue. Further details are available in the official announcement at https://lists.apache.org/thread/vw6lxtlh2qbqwpb61wd3sv1flm2nttw7.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-207697
Vulnerability Data
Improper Input Validation vulnerability. This issue affects Apache Tomcat: from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.14, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.49, from 9.0.0-M1 through 9.0.112. The following versions were EOL at the time the CVE was created but are known to be affected: 8.5.0…
more
through 8.5.100. Older EOL versions are not affected. Tomcat did not validate that the host name provided via the SNI extension was the same as the host name provided in the HTTP host header field. If Tomcat was configured with more than one virtual host and the TLS configuration for one of those hosts did not require client certificate authentication but another one did, it was possible for a client to bypass the client certificate authentication by sending different host names in the SNI extension and the HTTP host header field. The vulnerability only applies if client certificate authentication is only enforced at the Connector. It does not apply if client certificate authentication is enforced at the web application. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 11.0.15 or later, 10.1.50 or later or 9.0.113 or later, which fix the issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 18 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
—
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing input validation through analysis or test cases.
PKI certificate issuance and acquisition under an approved policy establishes the trusted roots and processes needed for correct validation.
SI-10 directly requires validity checks on information inputs, structurally preventing improper or missing validation.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed input-validation practices into the engineering process.
Protecting session authenticity depends on cryptographic mechanisms whose trust depends on correct certificate validation.
Requiring confidentiality and integrity protection of transmitted data drives use of properly validated certificates in protocols such as TLS.
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.
Certificate-based authentication of users/services/hardware directly depends on correct validation.
Proper certificate validation is a core mechanism for protecting data-in-transit confidentiality and integrity.
Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.
Assessing authenticity/integrity of acquired software often relies on code-signing certificate validation.
Identity assertions conveyed via certificates require validation to be verified.
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.
Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.
Requiring issuance and validation of public-key certificates under an approved policy reduces the chance that certificates with improper validation will be trusted.
Secure-coding guidelines and mandatory security testing (including code scans) compel developers to validate and sanitize inputs at design and implementation time, lowering the incidence of malformed or malicious data reaching downstream components.
Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.
Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.
Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (3 rules)
- V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
- V-248531 OL 8, for PKI-based authentication, must validate certificates by constructing a certification path (which includes status information) to an accepted trust anchor. prevents CWE-295
- V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
- V-204447 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
- V-204448 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230264 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-295
- V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20, CWE-295