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.

Triggered by: NVD CVSS v2.0 (legacy fallback)
Sources: epss, nvd_v2
Weaponized
4.3EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • 246 internet-facing services (distinct ip:port) on record running an affected version — derived from Shodan data (© Shodan); a patched service can stay counted while its port stays open
  • 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 services: 246

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.

Internet exposure · derived from Shodan data

246 internet-facing services (distinct ip:port) on record running a version that maps to CVE-2008-2938, in our KEV-Exposure radar’s Shodan-derived sample.

across 27 countries (United States, China, Singapore, Japan, Germany)top: tomcat
See the KEV-Exposure radar →Derived from Shodan data. Shodan data is owned by Shodan, which holds its copyright (© Shodan). EchelonGraph claims no ownership of it or copyright in it. Aggregate, host-redacted.

How it counts: every 12 hours, when Shodan query credits allow, the radar runs one Shodan query per tracked product, reads up to 100 ip:port services per query, and keeps a service when its banner version matches a CISA-KEV or high-EPSS CVE; a service is dropped when neither a search nor a Shodan InternetDB port re-check has refreshed it for 21 days. A re-check that finds the port still listed by Shodan InternetDB refreshes the service without re-reading the banner, so a patched service can stay counted while its port stays open. A count is a banner-version inference over a sample, not an exploit test and not an internet-wide census, and the unit is a service, not a machine: a machine answering on two ports counts twice.

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

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%
CISA SSVC: Track at low, Track or Track* at medium and Track* or Attend at high mission impact.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
100%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
Not listed

CISA SSVCTrack at low, Track or Track* at medium and Track* or Attend at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation public PoC (EG-KEV: weaponized) · Automatable unknown (not published for this CVE) · Technical impact unknown (not published for this CVE). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

August 13, 2008

Last Modified

April 23, 2026

References (86)

Patch Availability(5)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / 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 rangeFix by version rangeDependents
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat—
  • 4.1.0 up to 4.1.39: fixed in 4.1.39
  • 5.5.0 up to 5.5.27: fixed in 5.5.27
  • 6.0.0 up to 6.0.18: fixed in 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 0× in last 7d / 2× 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. 2026-09-29 07:50 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-09-12 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-07 16:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-06 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-26 13:35 UTCEG score recompute▲ 4.30
  6. 2026-07-23 00:56 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-07-23 00:39 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-07-23 00:36 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-07-23 00:36 UTCVendor advisory
  10. 2026-07-23 00:35 UTCEG score recompute▼ 9.00
  11. 2026-07-23 00:01 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-07-22 21:40 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-10 22:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 11 more
  1. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-05-30 20:40 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-05-30 20:40 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-05-27 13:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 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/tomcat_utf8_traversal✓ verified
    First seen Jan 9, 2009

    Tomcat UTF-8 Directory Traversal Vulnerability

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

    TrendMicro Data Loss Prevention 5.5 Directory Traversal

    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 product + 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 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. EchelonGraph's EG-KEV model classifies it as weaponized: a functional public exploit exists. FIRST EPSS estimates a 100% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
How do I remediate CVE-2008-2938?
A fix for CVE-2008-2938 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

Dependency Blast Radius

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