What is CVE-2013-2185?

CVE-2013-2185 is a vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, classified under Improper Input Validation. Published 2014-01-19.

Is CVE-2013-2185 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Improper input validation in Apache Tomcat

CVE-2013-2185

The readObject method in the DiskFileItem class in Apache Tomcat and JBoss Web, as used in Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.1.0 and Red Hat JBoss Portal 6.0.0, allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a NULL byte in a file name in a serialized instance, a similar issue to CVE-2013-2186. NOTE: this issue is reportedly disputed by the Apache Tomcat team, although Red Hat considers it a vulnerability. The dispute appears to regard whether it is the responsibility of applications to avoid providing untrusted data to be deserialized, or whether this class should inherently protect against this issue

Vulnerability class: Drupalgeddon 2 (CVE-2018-7600)

Published 2014-01-19 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.072 (94.3th percentile), scored 2026-10-22.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 94th percentile — 94.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.072 · newest: 0.072 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apache Tomcat
Red Hat Jboss Enterprise Application Platform — versions 6.1.0
Red Hat Jboss Enterprise Portal Platform — versions 6.0.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-20 — Improper Input Validation

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/09/05/4 (mailing-list)
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1193.html (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1265.html (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/10/24/12 (mailing-list)
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1194.html (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2013-2185?: CVE-2013-2185 is a vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, classified under Improper Input Validation. Published 2014-01-19.
Is CVE-2013-2185 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.