Alter the Advertised server.built Date (Scored)
Description
The server.built date represents the date which Tomcat was compiled and packaged. This value is presented to Tomcat clients when clients connect to the server.
Rationale
Altering the server.built string may increase the complexity for attackers to determine which vulnerabilities affect the server platform.
Audit Procedure
Perform the following to determine if the server.built value has been changed. Extract the ServerInfo.properties file and examine the server.built attribute.
$ cd $CATALINA_HOME/lib
$ jar xf catalina.jar org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties
$ grep server.built org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties
Remediation
Perform the following to alter the server version string which gets displayed when clients connect to the server.
- Extract the
ServerInfo.propertiesfile from thecatalina.jarfile:
$ cd $CATALINA_HOME/lib
$ jar xf catalina.jar org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties
- Navigate to the
utildirectory that was created
$ cd org/apache/Catalina/util
- Open
ServerInfo.propertiesin an editor - Update the
server.builtattribute in theServerInfo.propertiesfile.
server.built=
- Update the
catalina.jarwith the modifiedServerInfo.propertiesfile.
$ jar uf catalina.jar org/apache/catalina/util/ServerInfo.properties
Default Value
The default value for the server.built attribute is build date and time. For example, Jul 8 2008 11:40:35.
References
- https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/security-howto.html
- https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.5-doc/security-howto.html
CIS Controls
v7:
- 13.2 Remove Sensitive Data or Systems Not Regularly Accessed by Organization
- Remove sensitive data or systems not regularly accessed by the organization from the network. These systems shall only be used as stand alone systems (disconnected from the network) by the business unit needing to occasionally use the system or completely virtualized and powered off until needed.
Profile Applicability
- Level 2