CVE-2016-5388: apache tomcat Improper Access Control
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2016-5388 is a high (CVSS 8.1) Improper Access Control vulnerability in apache tomcat. EPSS estimates a 50.90% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98.9% of scored vulnerabilities.
Severe, CVSS 8.1 (NVD); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources; EPSS 51% (FIRST, 03-11-2026)
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 10 · Duplicates 1 · Related 5Timeline
- 19-07-2016PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 15-10-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
Apache Tomcat 7.x through 7.0.70 and 8.x through 8.5.4, when the CGI Servlet is enabled, follows RFC 3875 section 4.1.18 and therefore does not protect applications from the presence of untrusted client data in the HTTP_PROXY environment variable, which might allow remote attackers to redirect an application's outbound HTTP traffic to an arbitrary proxy server via a crafted Proxy header in an HTTP request, aka an "httpoxy" issue. NOTE: the vendor states "A mitigation is planned for future releases of Tomcat, tracked as CVE-2016-5388"; in other words, this is not a CVE ID for a vulnerability.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 3 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated8.1HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · MavenEcosystem advisory · calculated8.1HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
50.90%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
99%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 50.90% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.
Not in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: network-reachable, no authentication, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Redhat8 products
- enterprise_linux_desktop7.0 | 6.0
- enterprise_linux_hpc_node7.0 | 6.0
- enterprise_linux_hpc_node_eus7.2
- enterprise_linux_server7.0 | 6.0
- enterprise_linux_server_aus7.2
Ubuntu3 products
- tomcat6All versions (No fix recorded)
- tomcat7< 7.0.52-1ubuntu0.8 | < 7.0.68-1ubuntu0.4+esm1
- tomcat8< 8.0.32-1ubuntu1.3
Suse2 products
- tomcat6&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4< 6.0.45-0.53.2
- tomcat6&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4< 6.0.45-0.53.2
Apache1 product
- tomcat≥ 6.0, ≤ 6.0.45 | ≥ 7.0, ≤ 7.0.70 | ≥ 8.0, ≤ 8.5.4
Hp1 product
- system_management_homepage≤ 7.5.5.0
Mageia1 product
- tomcat< 7.0.68-1.3.mga5
Oracle1 product
- linuxEOL6 | 7
Org.apache.tomcat1 product
- tomcat-catalina≥ 7.0.0, < 7.0.72 | ≥ 8.0.0, < 8.5.5
8 vendors · 18 products
References
55 links- h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05320149X Refsource CONFIRMThird Party AdvisoryWEB
- h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05324759X Refsource CONFIRMThird Party AdvisoryWEB
- www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2016-3090545.htmlX Refsource CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-09/msg00025.htmlVendor AdvisoryX Refsource SUSEThird Party AdvisoryWEB
Show all 55 references
- h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05390722X Refsource CONFIRMThird Party AdvisoryWEB
- h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbhf03770en_usX Refsource CONFIRMThird Party AdvisoryWEB
- www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2017-3236622.htmlX Refsource CONFIRMPatchThird Party Advisory
- bugzilla.suse.com/988489REPORT
- github.com/apache/tomcatPACKAGE