# CVE-2019-0232: Apache Tomcat

- Exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2019-04-15
- CVSS: not scored
- EPSS: 99.9% (100th percentile)

When running on Windows with enableCmdLineArguments enabled, the CGI Servlet in Apache Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.17, 8.5.0 to 8.5.39 and 7.0.0 to 7.0.93 is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution due to a bug in the way the JRE passes command line arguments to Windows. The CGI Servlet is disabled by default. The CGI option enableCmdLineArguments is disable by default in Tomcat 9.0.x (and will be disabled by default in all versions in response to this vulnerability). For a detailed explanation of the JRE behaviour, see Markus Wulftange's blog (https://codewhitesec.blogspot.com/2016/02/java-and-command-line-injections-in-windows.html) and this archived MSDN blog (https://web.archive.org/web/20161228144344/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/twistylittlepassagesallalike/2011/04/23/everyone-quotes-command-line-arguments-the-wrong-way/).

## Edge WAF coverage (claimed by vendors, not measured)

| Vendor | Status | First rule | Days after publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Before feed history | — | — |
| AWS | Before feed history | — | — |
| Microsoft Azure | No public claim | — | — |
| Google Cloud | Before feed history | — | — |
| Fastly | Before feed history | — | — |
| F5 | Rule published | 2024-11-12 | 2038 |
| Akamai | No public source | — | — |
| OWASP CRS | Before feed history | — | — |

### F5

- 2024-11-12 · new · rule 200103554
  > Added: signature 200103554 "Apache Tomcat CGIServlet - Remote Code Execution" (Command Execution, risk High), systems: Java Servlets/JSP, Apache Tomcat, JavaServer Faces (JSF). References: CVE-2019-0232.
  Source: https://docs.cloud.f5.com/docs-v2/platform/changelogs/security-details-changelog

## Our test (measured)

- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: passed (0 of 1 requests blocked), template CVE-2019-0232, 2026-11-02
- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: blocked (1 of 1 requests blocked), template CVE-2019-0232, 2026-11-02

"No public claim" means no vendor statement names this CVE; "Before feed history" means the CVE is older than the vendor feed. In both cases generic rules may still block it.

HTML: https://cve.vigilbase.com/cve/CVE-2019-0232 · JSON: https://cve.vigilbase.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2019-0232