CVE-2003-0043 Tomcat uses trusted privileges when processing web.xml file

What is CVE-2003-0043?

CVE-2003-0043 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 1 Sep 2004. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Jakarta Tomcat before 3.3.1a, when used with JDK 1.3.1 or earlier, uses trusted privileges when processing the web.xml file, which could allow remote attackers to read portions of some files through the web.xml file.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2003-0043?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.tomcat:tomcat. It affects 1 product.

Products include Apache Tomcat.

How do I fix CVE-2003-0043?

Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 3.3.1a or later.

Is CVE-2003-0043 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2003-0043 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat

• CVE-2025-24813 Apache Tomcat Path Equivalence Exploited Critical 10.0
• CVE-2016-8735 Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2017-12617 Apache Tomcat Remote Code Execution Exploited High 8.1
• CVE-2017-12615 Apache Tomcat on Windows Remote Code Execution Exploited High 8.1
• CVE-2026-34486 Apache Tomcat Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data Exploited High 7.5

All Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-cvx5-7vc7-rg77.