CVE-2011-2481 Apache Tomcat Allows Replacing of XML Parser

What is CVE-2011-2481?

CVE-2011-2481 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 15 Aug 2011. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Apache Tomcat 7.0.x before 7.0.17 permits web applications to replace an XML parser used for other web applications, which allows local users to read or modify the (1) web.xml, (2) context.xml, or (3) tld files of arbitrary web applications via a crafted application that is loaded earlier than the target application. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of a CVE-2009-0783 regression.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-2481?

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-2011-2481?

Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 7.0.17 or later.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2011-2481 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-2481 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-r7c8-hghc-2mp8.