# CVE-2002-0936: Denial of service in n/a

> A malicious JSP page can crash the Tomcat web server by invoking a specific printer job method with null arguments.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 31 Aug 2002
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-ppj6-9ppm-3h56

## What is CVE-2002-0936?

CVE-2002-0936 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 31 Aug 2002. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Java Server Pages (JSP) engine in Tomcat allows web page owners to cause a denial of service (engine crash) on the web server via a JSP page that calls WPrinterJob().pageSetup(null,null).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2002-0936?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Tomcat.

## How do I fix CVE-2002-0936?

No fix has been published for CVE-2002-0936 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2002-0936 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2002-0936 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Apache Tomcat 3/4 - JSP Engine Denial of Service (exploitdb)
- Full-cycle Pentest on Metasploitable (VMware/Kali). Scanned services (Apache Tomcat/8180), researched CVE-2002-0936 via Exploit-DB, and gained access using default creds (Metasploit). Performed local enumeration for SUID misconfigs, exploiting a legacy Nmap binary to escalate privileges to Root. (github_poc): https://github.com/om4rsallam/Full-Attack-Lifecycle-Simulation-on-Metasploitable

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat

- [CVE-2025-24813](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24813/): Apache Tomcat Path Equivalence (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-8735](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8735/): Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-12617](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12617/): Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-12615](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12615/): Apache Tomcat on Windows Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-34486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34486/): Apache Tomcat Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2002-0936 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2002-0936 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 31 Aug 2002. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2002-0936 exists.

Affected product: Apache Tomcat. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-0936/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-0936/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-0936
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2002-0936
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2002-0936

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-0936/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.