Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Apache Tomcat can incorrectly enforce web access rules after FORM authentication. Applications that permit POST requests to a resource but deny GET requests may allow the denied GET through an authentication redirect. Successful abuse could expose or alter sensitive information, depending on the protected application.
Executive priority
Treat affected internet-facing or sensitive applications as an urgent patching priority. First identify deployments combining FORM authentication with method-specific authorization. Accelerate upgrades where that pattern exists; replace end-of-life Tomcat 8.5 and 7 rather than relying on unsupported branches.
Technical view
The FORM authentication redirect process may bypass HTTP-method-specific security constraints, a CWE-863 authorization failure. Affected releases are 11.0.0-M1–11.0.24, 10.1.0-M1–10.1.57, 9.0.0.M1–9.0.120, 8.5.0–8.5.100, and 7.0.0–7.0.109. The CVSS 3.1 score is 9.1.
Likely exposure
Exposure requires an affected Tomcat version and an application using FORM authentication with differing access constraints by HTTP method, particularly POST permitted while GET is denied. Internet-facing applications have greater potential exposure. Unsupported Tomcat versions beyond the confirmed ranges may also be affected, but evidence is incomplete.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector describes network access, low complexity, no prior privileges, and no user interaction, with potentially high confidentiality and integrity impact. The supplied record is not in KEV, and no provided source establishes active exploitation or public exploit availability.
Researcher notes
The vulnerable condition is configuration-dependent, so version detection alone establishes potential exposure, not demonstrated impact. Review application security constraints and FORM login flows. Assess confidentiality and integrity consequences for resources with asymmetric method permissions. The supplied evidence does not clarify whether other authorization patterns are exploitable.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Tomcat 11 to 11.0.25 or later.
- Upgrade Tomcat 10.1 to 10.1.58 or later.
- Upgrade Tomcat 9 to 9.0.121 or later.
- Migrate Tomcat 8.5 and 7 deployments to a supported, fixed release line.
- Check Apache guidance for unsupported or otherwise unlisted Tomcat versions.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Tomcat versions across production, staging, containers, and bundled applications.
- Identify applications using FORM authentication and method-specific security constraints.
- Prioritize configurations permitting POST while denying GET on the same resource.
- Confirm the running runtime version, not only package manifests or build files.
- Regression-test authorization across authentication redirects and every constrained HTTP method.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-863: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-68525 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.2CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.1CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/x1y2lfsgzxwzc456f8954vbvgn03zhd7CVE reference, apache · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Authorization
Incorrect Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.