---
id: CVE-2019-0232
title: >-
  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 l…
summary: >-
  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 l…
severity: none
vendor: Apache
product: Tomcat
affected:
  - Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.17
  - Tomcat 8.5.0 to 8.5.39
  - Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.93
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-11-02T17:30:07.745635Z'
exploitAvailable: true
published: '2019-04-15'
updated: '2026-11-02'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-02T17:30:27.434Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-0232'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/5f297a4b9080b5f65a05bc139596d0e437d6a539b25e31d29d028767%40%3Cannounce.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-users] 20190410 [SECURITY] CVE-2019-0232 Apache Tomcat Remote Code
      Execution on Windows
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/1dd0a59c1295cc08ce4c9e7edae5ad2268acc9ba55adcefa0532e5ba%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20190415 svn commit: r1857582 [18/22] - in
      /tomcat/site/trunk: docs/ xdocs/stylesheets/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/673b6148d92cd7bc99ea2dcf85ad75d57da44fc322d51f37fb529a2a%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [ofbiz-commits] 20190415 svn commit: r1857587 - in /ofbiz:
      ofbiz-framework/branches/release18.12/build.gradle
      ofbiz-plugins/branches/release18.12/example/build.gradle
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/3d19773b4cf0377db62d1e9328bf9160bf1819f04f988315086931d7%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20190415 svn commit: r1857582 [17/22] - in
      /tomcat/site/trunk: docs/ xdocs/stylesheets/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/a6c87a09a71162fd563ab1c4e70a08a103e0b7c199fc391f1c9c4c35%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [ofbiz-commits] 20190415 svn commit: r1857586 - in /ofbiz:
      ofbiz-framework/trunk/build.gradle
      ofbiz-plugins/trunk/example/build.gradle
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6af47120905aa7d8fe12f42e8ff2284fb338ba141d3b77b8c7cb61b3%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20190415 svn commit: r1857582 [19/22] - in
      /tomcat/site/trunk: docs/ xdocs/stylesheets/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/52ffb9fbf661245386a83a661183d13f1de2e5779fa23837a08e02ac%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [ofbiz-commits] 20190415 svn commit: r1857588 - in /ofbiz:
      ofbiz-framework/branches/release17.12/build.gradle
      ofbiz-plugins/branches/release17.12/example/build.gradle
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/dd4b325cdb261183dbf5ce913c102920a8f09c26dae666a98309165b%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [ofbiz-notifications] 20190415 [jira] [Commented] (OFBIZ-10920) Update
      Tomcat to 9.0.18 due to CVE-2019-0232
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/96849486813a95dfd542e1618b7923ca945508aaf4a4341f674d83e3%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [ofbiz-notifications] 20190415 [jira] [Closed] (OFBIZ-10920) Update Tomcat
      to 9.0.18 due to CVE-2019-0232
  - url: 'http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/107906'
    label: '107906'
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/f4d48b32ef2b6aa49c8830241a9475da5b46e451f964b291c7a0a715%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20190421 svn commit: r1857901 - in /tomcat/site/trunk:
      docs/security-7.html docs/security-8.html docs/security-9.html
      xdocs/security-7.xml xdocs/security-8.xml xdocs/security-9.xml
  - url: 'http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/May/4'
    label: 20190504 RCE in CGI Servlet - Apache Tomcat on Windows - CVE-2019-0232
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:1712'
    label: 'RHSA-2019:1712'
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6d03e45b81eab03580cf7f8bb51cb3e9a1b10a2cc0c6a2d3cc92ed0c%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
    label: '[announce] 20200131 Apache Software Foundation Security Report: 2019'
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6ccee4e849bc77df0840c7f853f6bd09d426f6741247da2b7429d5d9%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20200203 svn commit: r1873527 [24/30] -
      /tomcat/site/trunk/docs/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3bbb800a816d0a51eccc5a228c58736960a9fffafa581a225834d97d%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20200203 svn commit: r1873527 [25/30] -
      /tomcat/site/trunk/docs/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9136ff5b13e4f1941360b5a309efee2c114a14855578c3a2cbe5d19c%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20200213 svn commit: r1873980 [27/34] -
      /tomcat/site/trunk/docs/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/raba0fabaf4d56d4325ab2aca8814f0b30a237ab83d8106b115ee279a%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20200213 svn commit: r1873980 [28/34] -
      /tomcat/site/trunk/docs/
  - url: >-
      https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r48c1444845fe15a823e1374674bfc297d5008a5453788099ea14caf0%40%3Cdev.tomcat.apache.org%3E
    label: >-
      [tomcat-dev] 20200213 svn commit: r1873980 [29/34] -
      /tomcat/site/trunk/docs/
  - url: 'https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2020.html'
  - url: >-
      https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2019-5072835.html
  - url: >-
      https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2019-5072832.html
  - url: 'https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2020.html'
  - url: 'https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html'
  - url: >-
      https://codewhitesec.blogspot.com/2016/02/java-and-command-line-injections-in-windows.html
  - url: >-
      https://web.archive.org/web/20161228144344/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/twistylittlepassagesallalike/2011/04/23/everyone-quotes-command-line-arguments-the-wrong-way/
  - url: 'https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_19_17'
  - url: 'https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190419-0001/'
  - url: >-
      https://www.broadcom.com/support/fibre-channel-networking/security-advisories/brocade-security-advisory-2019-784
  - url: >-
      https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/uncovering-cve-2019-0232-a-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-apache-tomcat/
  - url: >-
      https://wwws.nightwatchcybersecurity.com/2019/04/30/remote-code-execution-rce-in-cgi-servlet-apache-tomcat-on-windows-cve-2019-0232/
  - url: >-
      http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153506/Apache-Tomcat-CGIServlet-enableCmdLineArguments-Remote-Code-Execution.html
tags:
  - cve.org
  - exploit-available
epss: 0.99923
epssPercentile: 0.99969
exploits:
  exploitdb: true
  github: 15
  githubRepos:
    - 'https://github.com/pyn3rd/CVE-2019-0232'
    - 'https://github.com/jas502n/CVE-2019-0232'
    - 'https://github.com/cyy95/CVE-2019-0232-EXP'
  metasploit:
    - exploit/windows/http/tomcat_cgi_cmdlineargs
  nuclei:
    - CVE-2019-0232
  checkedAt: '2026-11-05T19:31:18.363Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T19:30:42.726Z'
---

## Overview

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/).

## Affected

- `Tomcat 9.0.0.M1 to 9.0.17`
- `Tomcat 8.5.0 to 8.5.39`
- `Tomcat 7.0.0 to 7.0.93`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.
