# CVE-2016-6325: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local users in the tomcat group can gain privileges due to weak file permissions on Tomcat configuration files in Red Hat and JBoss environments.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Oct 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-398j-w8vh-r865, MINI-954g-vwqv-fg3h, MINI-fhhj-9mvc-q7g2, MINI-w4mj-8fjp-c376

## What is CVE-2016-6325?

CVE-2016-6325 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 13 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Tomcat package on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 through 7, JBoss Web Server 3.0, and JBoss EWS 2 uses weak permissions for (1) /etc/sysconfig/tomcat and (2) /etc/tomcat/tomcat.conf, which allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging membership in the tomcat group.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6325?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Apache Tomcat.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-6325?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2016-6325 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6325 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2016-6325 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-6325 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 13 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6325 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2016-6325/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6325/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6325
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6325
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-6325

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6325/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.