---
title: "WEB-TOM-005 Tomcat Example and Documentation Applications Deployed"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-TOM-005.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-TOM-005.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# WEB-TOM-005 Tomcat Example and Documentation Applications Deployed

Checks whether the examples or docs web applications that ship with Tomcat are deployed.

- Domain: Web Apps
- Severity: Medium
- Control category: Information Exposure
- Fix effort: low
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N`
- CIS Controls v8: 16.7
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.PS-01
- CWE: CWE-1188
- OWASP Top 10 2021: A05:2021
- OWASP WSTG v4.2: WSTG-CONF-02
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: CM-7

## Why It Matters

The sample applications are written to demonstrate features, not to be safe. Some (such as the session example) let visitors change server-side session data, and all of them reveal the exact Tomcat version.

## How It Detects

Looks for examples/ and docs/ application folders (WEB-INF/web.xml or index.html) in each Tomcat installation's webapps folders, including the Debian and Ubuntu tomcatN-examples and tomcatN-docs packages.

## How to Fix

Delete the examples and docs folders from webapps (or apt remove tomcatN-examples tomcatN-docs) and restart Tomcat.

## How to Verify

```
ls <webapps>  lists only your own applications (and ROOT).
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P13 Application Servers: Tomcat, Node.js and Python](https://openvapt.com/academy/p13.md)

## References

- [Apache Tomcat 10.1, Security Considerations](https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-10.1-doc/security-howto.html)
- [OWASP WSTG-CONF-02, Test Application Platform Configuration](https://wstg.owasp.org/v4.2/4-Web_Application_Security_Testing/02-Configuration_and_Deployment_Management_Testing/02-Test_Application_Platform_Configuration/)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/web/tomcat.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only WEB-TOM-005`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain WEB-TOM-005`.

---

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