Page History

...

This FAQ section provides help with some security-related issues. If you hear of a vulnerability or its exploitation, please let us know on the \[mailto:security@tomcat.apache.org security@tomcat.apache.org\] mailing list.

The Record

Tomcat's security record is impeccable. There have been no public cases of damage done to a company, organization, or individual due to a Tomcat security issue. There have been no documented cases of data loss or application crashes caused by an intruder. While there have been numerous analyses conducted on Tomcat, partially because this is easy to do with Tomcat's source code openly available, there have been only a few theoretical vulnerabilities found. All of those were addressed rapidly even though there were no documented cases of actual exploitation of these vulnerabilities.

...

We believe, and the evidence suggests, that Tomcat is more than secure enough for most use-cases. However, like all other components of Tomcat, you can customize any and all of the relevant parts of the server to achieve even higher security. For example, the session manager implementation is pluggable, and even the default implementation has support for pluggable random number generators. If you have a special need that you feel is not met by Tomcat out of the box, consider these customization options. At the same time, please bring up your requirements on the user mailing list, where we'll be glad to discuss it and assist in your approach/design/implementation as needed.

Questions

1. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q1 How do I use OpenSSL to set up my own Certificate Authority (CA)?\]

2. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q2 OH NO! PORT 8005 is available for anyone on localhost to shutdown my tomcat!\]

3. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q3 What about Tomcat running as root?\]

4. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q4 How to I force all my pages to run under HTTPS?\]

5. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q5 What is the default login for the manager and admin app?\]

6. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q6 How do I restrict access by ip address or remote host?\]

7. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q7 How do I use jsvc/procrun to run Tomcat on port 80 securely?\]

8. Wiki Markup
   \[#Q8 Has Tomcat's security been independently analyzed or audited?\]

Answers

How do I use OpenSSL to set up my own Certificate Authority (CA)?

...

• Wiki Markup
  \[http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=104516038700003&r=1&w=2 Tomcat as root and security issues\] \\

How to I force all my pages to run under HTTPS?

...

\[http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=tomcat-user&m=104951559722619&w=2 Use security-constraint in web.xml\].

What is the default login for the manager and admin app?

...

The admin and manager application do not provide a default login. Doing so is a security flaw. You need to edit $CATALINA_HOME/conf/tomcat-users.xml if you are using the default install. \[http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-4.1-doc/manager-howto.html#Configuring%20Manager%20Application%20Access Configuring Manager Application Access\]

How do I restrict access by ip address or remote host?

...

By using the {{RemoteHostValve}} or {{RemoteAddrValve}}. Warning, these valves rely on accurate incoming ip addresses or hostnames. So they can fall victim to spoofing! \[http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-4.1-doc/config/valve.html Valve Reference Link\]

...

Fairly easily ;) See the Setup page in the docs for your tomcat release, and read \[http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=tomcat-user&m=108566020231438&w=2 this mailing list post\] for a complete setup example with permissions etc.

Has Tomcat's security been independently analyzed or audited?

...

Yes, by numerous organizations and individuals, many times. Try \[http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=is+tomcat+secure this Google search\] and you'll see many references, guides, and analyses.