CVE-2008-2938

MEDIUMCVSS v2 · 4.34.3—
EchelonGraph scoreLOW confidence

This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 4.3 — v2 rates that MEDIUM (v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; v2 has no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 99.7% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.

Sources: epss, nvd_v2
Weaponized
4.3EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • 121 internet-exposed hosts are running an affected version right now
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 100%
  • Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB (verified), epss top5pct, epss high, public exploit)
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 100%CVSS v2: 4.3Exploit: Metasploit · Exploit-DB (verified) · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 121

A fix is available — apply it.

Directory traversal vulnerability in Apache Tomcat 4.1.0 through 4.1.37, 5.5.0 through 5.5.26, and 6.0.0 through 6.0.16, when allowLinking and UTF-8 are enabled, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via encoded directory traversal sequences in the URI, a different vulnerability than CVE-2008-2370. NOTE: versions earlier than 6.0.18 were reported affected, but the vendor advisory lists 6.0.16 as the last affected version.

Live · internet exposure

121 internet-exposed hosts are running an affected version of CVE-2008-2938 right now.

across 27 countries (United States, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Canada)top: tomcat
See the live KEV-Exposure radar →Found passively from public internet-scan data — aggregate, host-redacted.

EchelonGraph is the only CVE feed that fuses live vulnerability intelligence with its own live internet-exposure radar — so you see not just that a CVE is exploited, but how much of the internet is exposed to it right now.

CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
4.3MEDIUMNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
EG Score
4.3(low)
EG Risk
64(Track)
EG Risk 64/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity43% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
100%
EPSS %ILE
100%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 13, 2008

Last Modified

April 23, 2026

References (86)

Patch Availability(5)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
redhattomcat5-0:5.0.30-0jpp_12rh2008-12-08redhat
redhattomcat5-0:5.5.23-0jpp_12rh2008-10-02redhat
redhattomcat5-0:5.5.23-0jpp_4rh.92008-10-02redhat
redhatjbossweb-0:2.0.0-5.CP07.0jpp.ep1.1.el52008-09-22redhat
redhattomcat5-0:5.5.23-0jpp.7.el5_2.12008-08-27redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Maven(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat—6.0.18—

All Vendor Advisories

(5)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 8× in last 7d / 8× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-26 13:35 UTCEG score recompute▲ 4.30
  2. 2026-07-23 00:56 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-23 00:39 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-07-23 00:36 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-07-23 00:36 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-07-23 00:35 UTCEG score recompute▼ 9.00
  7. 2026-07-23 00:01 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-07-22 21:40 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-05-30 20:40 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-05-30 20:40 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 7 more
  1. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-05-27 13:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(4 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 Metasploit modules) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-14489✓ verified
    First seen Jul 28, 2010

    Apache Tomcat < 6.0.18 - 'utf8' Directory Traversal

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitauxiliary/admin/http/trendmicro_dlp_traversal✓ verified
    First seen Jan 9, 2009

    TrendMicro Data Loss Prevention 5.5 Directory Traversal

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitauxiliary/admin/http/tomcat_utf8_traversal✓ verified
    First seen Jan 9, 2009

    Tomcat UTF-8 Directory Traversal Vulnerability

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-6229✓ verified
    First seen Aug 11, 2008

    Apache Tomcat < 6.0.18 - 'utf8' Directory Traversal (PoC)

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor)

Frequently asked(4)

What is CVE-2008-2938?
CVE-2008-2938 is a medium vulnerability published on August 13, 2008. Directory traversal vulnerability in Apache Tomcat 4.1.0 through 4.1.37, 5.5.0 through 5.5.26, and 6.0.0 through 6.0.16, when allowLinking and UTF-8 are enabled, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via encoded directory traversal sequences in the URI, a different vulnerability than…
When was CVE-2008-2938 disclosed?
CVE-2008-2938 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 13, 2008, with the most recent update on April 23, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2008-2938 actively exploited?
CVE-2008-2938 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 100% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 0.0% of all scored CVEs.
How do I remediate CVE-2008-2938?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2008-2938, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2008-2938

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