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MEDIUM

tomcat6: does not use HTTPOnly for session cookies by default

Published Nov 26, 2010

Description

The default configuration of Apache Tomcat 6.x does not include the HTTPOnly flag in a Set-Cookie header, which makes it easier for remote attackers to hijack a session via script access to a cookie.

Affected products

Remediation

Red Hat statement

This issue is only a defense-in-depth measure, and we currently have no plans to fix this flaw in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. The use of the useHttpOnly setting in Tomcat only prohibits client scripts from accessing cookies when it is correctly implemented in the user's web browser. The use of httpOnly does not guarantee XSS protection; it is only a defense-in-depth measure. Additionally, implementing this as a default setting could have negative impact on existing expected behavior in client scripts. As a result, the Red Hat Security Response Team has determined that this issue is not a security flaw, but a proactive hardening measure and the risk associated with implementing it by default and possibly breaking expected behaviour is greater than any benefits it provides. Users who wish to take advantage of this hardening measure can enable useHttpOnly by adding '<Context useHttpOnly="true">' to the default context.xml or a specific web-application context.

Metrics

Weaknesses (2)

References (10)

Change history (0)

No recorded changes yet.

Sources
CVE.org / MITRE
Status PUBLISHED
Assigner mitre
Published Nov 26, 2010
Updated Aug 7, 2024
Reserved Nov 26, 2010
NVD
Status Modified
Modified Jun 16, 2026
Red Hat
Severity Moderate
Public date Nov 22, 2010
GHSA-PVJH-7H8Q-Q56R