Security constraint bypass via special URL characters
Published Apr 28, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
URL handling in affected Apache Tomcat 8.5, 9.0, 10.1, and 11.0 releases allows remote attackers to bypass Rewrite Valve rules. RewriteValve matched decoded request paths without first re-encoding literal percent, semicolon, and question-mark characters, confusing URL data with rewrite control syntax. The request is unauthenticated, but impact requires an enabled Rewrite Valve whose rules enforce security constraints; successful requests reach resources those rules were meant to block.
Summary
What happened
URL handling in affected Apache Tomcat 8.5, 9.0, 10.1, and 11.0 releases allows remote attackers to bypass Rewrite Valve rules. RewriteValve matched decoded request paths without first re-encoding literal percent, semicolon, and question-mark characters, confusing URL data with rewrite control syntax. The request is unauthenticated, but impact requires an enabled Rewrite Valve whose rules enforce security constraints; successful requests reach resources those rules were meant to block.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-31651
- Published
- Apr 28, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- The Apache Software Foundation
- Product
- Apache Tomcat
- Classifications
- CWE-116, CWE-150, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 28, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.1.0-M1 <=10.1.39
- Affected versionversion=11.0.0-M1 <=11.0.5
- Affected versionversion=8.5.0 <=8.5.100
- Affected versionversion=9.0.0.M1 <=9.0.102
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- CVE-2025-31651 Rewrite Valve bypass reproductionproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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