server.xml

General

The default server.xml contains a large number of comments, including some example component definitions that are commented out. Removing these comments makes it considerably easier to read and comprehend server.xml.

If a component type is not listed, then there are no settings for that type that directly impact security.

Server

Setting the port attribute to -1 disables the shutdown port.

If the shutdown port is not disabled, a strong password should be configured for shutdown.

Listeners

The APR Lifecycle Listener is not stable if compiled on Solaris using gcc. If using the APR/native connector on Solaris, compile it with the Sun Studio compiler.

The Security Listener should be enabled and configured as appropriate.

Connectors

By default, an HTTP and an AJP connector are configured. Connectors that will not be used should be removed from server.xml.

The address attribute may be used to control which IP address the connector listens on for connections. By default, the connector listens on all configured IP addresses.

The allowTrace attribute may be used to enable TRACE requests which can be useful for debugging. Due to the way some browsers handle the response from a TRACE request (which exposes the browser to an XSS attack), support for TRACE requests is disabled by default.

The maxPostSize attribute controls the maximum size of a POST request that will be parsed for parameters. The parameters are cached for the duration of the request so this is limited to 2MB by default to reduce exposure to a DOS attack.

The maxSavePostSize attribute controls the saving of POST requests during FORM and CLIENT-CERT authentication. The parameters are cached for the duration of the authentication (which may be many minutes) so this is limited to 4KB by default to reduce exposure to a DOS attack.

The maxParameterCount attribute controls the maximum number of parameter and value pairs (GET plus POST) that can be parsed and stored in the request. Excessive parameters are ignored. If you want to reject such requests, configure a FailedRequestFilter.

The xpoweredBy attribute controls whether or not the X-Powered-By HTTP header is sent with each request. If sent, the value of the header contains the Servlet and JSP specification versions, the full Tomcat version (e.g. Apache Tomcat/8.0), the name of the JVM vendor and the version of the JVM. This header is disabled by default. This header can provide useful information to both legitimate clients and attackers.

The server attribute controls the value of the Server HTTP header. The default value of this header for Tomcat 4.1.x to 8.0.x is Apache-Coyote/1.1. This header can provide limited information to both legitimate clients and attackers.

The SSLEnabled, scheme and secure attributes may all be independently set. These are normally used when Tomcat is located behind a reverse proxy and the proxy is connecting to Tomcat via HTTP or HTTPS. They allow Tomcat to see the SSL attributes of the connections between the client and the proxy rather than the proxy and Tomcat. For example, the client may connect to the proxy over HTTPS but the proxy connects to Tomcat using HTTP. If it is necessary for Tomcat to be able to distinguish between secure and non-secure connections received by a proxy, the proxy must use separate connectors to pass secure and non-secure requests to Tomcat. If the proxy uses AJP then the SSL attributes of the client connection are passed via the AJP protocol and separate connectors are not needed.

The ciphers attribute controls the ciphers used for SSL connections. By default, the default ciphers for the JVM will be used. This usually means that the weak export grade ciphers will be included in the list of available ciphers. Secure environments will normally want to configure a more limited set of ciphers.

The tomcatAuthentication attribute is used with the AJP connectors to determine if Tomcat should authenticate the user or if authentication can be delegated to the reverse proxy that will then pass the authenticated username to Tomcat as part of the AJP protocol.

The allowUnsafeLegacyRenegotiation attribute provides a workaround for CVE-2009-3555, a TLS man in the middle attack. This workaround applies to the BIO connector. It is only necessary if the underlying SSL implementation is vulnerable to CVE-2009-3555. For more information on the current state of this vulnerability and the work-arounds available see the Tomcat 8 security page.

The requiredSecret attribute in AJP connectors configures shared secret between Tomcat and reverse proxy in front of Tomcat. It is used to prevent unauthorized connections over AJP protocol.

Host

The host element controls deployment. Automatic deployment allows for simpler management but also makes it easier for an attacker to deploy a malicious application. Automatic deployment is controlled by the autoDeployand deployOnStartup attributes. If both are false, only Contexts defined in server.xml will be deployed and any changes will require a Tomcat restart.

In a hosted environment where web applications may not be trusted, set the deployXML attribute to false to ignore any context.xml packaged with the web application that may try to assign increased privileges to the web application. Note that if the security manager is enabled that the deployXML attribute will default to false.

Context

This applies to Context elements in all places where they can be defined: server.xml file, default context.xmlfile, per-host context.xml.default file, web application context file in per-host configuration directory or inside the web application.

The crossContext attribute controls if a context is allowed to access the resources of another context. It is false by default and should only be changed for trusted web applications.

The privileged attribute controls if a context is allowed to use container provided servlets like the Manager servlet. It is false by default and should only be changed for trusted web applications.

The allowLinking attribute controls if a context is allowed to use linked files. If enabled and the context is undeployed, the links will be followed when deleting the context resources. Changing this setting from the default of false on case insensitive operating systems (this includes Windows) will disable a number of security measures and allow, among other things, direct access to the WEB-INF directory.

Valves

It is strongly recommended that an AccessLogValve is configured. The default Tomcat configuration includes an AccessLogValve. These are normally configured per host but may also be configured per engine or per context as required.

Any administrative application should be protected by a RemoteAddrValve. (Note that this Valve is also available as a Filter.) The allow attribute should be used to limit access to a set of known trusted hosts.

The default ErrorReportValve includes the Tomcat version number in the response sent to clients. To avoid this, custom error handling can be configured within each web application. Alternatively, the version number can be changed by creating the file CATALINA_BASE/lib/org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties with content as follows:

server.info=Apache Tomcat/8.0.x

Modify the values as required. Note that this will also change the version number reported in some of the management tools and may make it harder to determine the real version installed. The CATALINA_HOME/bin/version.bat|sh script will still report the version number.

The default ErrorReportValve can display stack traces and/or JSP source code to clients when an error occurs. To avoid this, custom error handling can be configured within each web application.

Realms

The MemoryRealm is not intended for production use as any changes to tomcat-users.xml require a restart of Tomcat to take effect.

The JDBCRealm is not recommended for production use as it is single threaded for all authentication and authorization options. Use the DataSourceRealm instead.

The UserDatabaseRealm is not intended for large-scale installations. It is intended for small-scale, relatively static environments.

The JAASRealm is not widely used and therefore the code is not as mature as the other realms. Additional testing is recommended before using this realm.

By default, the realms do not implement any form of account lock-out. This means that brute force attacks can be successful. To prevent a brute force attack, the chosen realm should be wrapped in a LockOutRealm.

Manager

The manager component is used to generate session IDs.

The class used to generate random session IDs may be changed with the randomClass attribute.

The length of the session ID may be changed with the sessionIdLength attribute.