Apache Tomcat 5 End of Life
Support dates, vulnerabilities published since end of life, and upgrade guidance — rebuilt from live data.
Apache Tomcat 5 reached end of life on 30 Sept 2012. It no longer receives security fixes.
Support timeline
Official dates from the Apache Tomcat release process.
| Milestone | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Initial release | 6 Sept 2003 | — |
| End of life | 30 Sept 2012 | 13.9 years ago |
| Latest release | 5.5.36 · 10 Oct 2012 | final |
The cost of staying: CVEs since end of life
169 Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities have been published since 30 Sept 2012. All were fixed in supported branches — 5 received none of them. Source: NVD.
Apache Tomcat CVEs published since 5's EOL, by year
21 of the 169 are rated critical · data refreshed 2026-08-09
Published 6 Apr 2017 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 5. Details
Published 17 Apr 2017 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 5. Details
Published 16 May 2018 · rated critical — fixed in supported branches only, never in 5. Details
Where to go from 5
Recommended target: Apache Tomcat 11.0.
The newest actively supported branch is Apache Tomcat 11.0 (latest release 11.0.24). Review tomcat.apache.org before upgrading.
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Tomcat 5 still safe to use?
No. Apache Tomcat 5 stopped receiving security fixes on 30 Sept 2012. Since then, 169 Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities have been published and fixed in supported branches — Apache Tomcat 5 received none of those fixes.
Can I still download Apache Tomcat 5?
Yes — the final release (5.5.36) generally remains available from vendor archives and OS package mirrors, but installing it means running software with known, unpatched vulnerabilities.
What should I upgrade Apache Tomcat 5 to?
Upgrade to Apache Tomcat 11.0, the newest actively supported branch.