[Test Case] Setup Apache 2.4.7 * mod_rewrite * mod_ajp * mod_dir Tomcat * Listening on Port 9001 Apache with a .htaccess in the example.net VirtualHost RewriteEngine On RewriteRule ^(.*)$ ajp://localhost:9001/$1 [P] Expected: Return from Tomcat HTTP Status 404 - / Reality: Return from Tomcat HTTP Status 404 - /index.html Workaround for this particular setup was to either disable mod_dir or disable DirectoryIndex in .htaccess. Or on VirtualHost context use ProxyPass. ProxyPass / ajp://localhost:9001/ ProxyPassReverse / ajp://localhost:9001/ [Impact] With DirectoryIndex disabled:

[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761066 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] strip per-dir prefix: /home/www-data/example.net/ -> 
[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761191 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] applying pattern '^(.*)$' to uri ''
[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761215 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] rewrite '' -> 'ajp://localhost:9001/'
[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761232 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] escaped URI in per-dir context for proxy, ajp://localhost:9001/ -> ajp://localhost:9001/
[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761245 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] forcing proxy-throughput with ajp://localhost:9001/
[Thu Apr 30 13:55:18.761259 2015] [rewrite:trace1] [pid 31422] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38052] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb50a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] go-ahead with proxy request proxy:ajp://localhost:9001/ [OK]

With DirectoryIndex enabled:

[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954876 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] strip per-dir prefix: /home/www-data/example.net/ -> 
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954930 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] applying pattern '^(.*)$' to uri ''
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954947 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] rewrite '' -> 'ajp://localhost:9001/'
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954959 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] escaped URI in per-dir context for proxy, ajp://localhost:9001/ -> ajp://localhost:9001/
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954968 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] forcing proxy-throughput with ajp://localhost:9001/
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.954977 2015] [rewrite:trace1] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb10a0/initial] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] go-ahead with proxy request proxy:ajp://localhost:9001/ [OK]
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955023 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] strip per-dir prefix: /home/www-data/example.net/index.html -> index.html
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955036 2015] [rewrite:trace3] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] applying pattern '^(.*)$' to uri 'index.html'
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955076 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] rewrite 'index.html' -> 'ajp://localhost:9001/index.html'
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955086 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] escaped URI in per-dir context for proxy, ajp://localhost:9001/index.html -> ajp://localhost:9001/index.html
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955094 2015] [rewrite:trace2] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] forcing proxy-throughput with ajp://localhost:9001/index.html
[Thu Apr 30 13:58:37.955103 2015] [rewrite:trace1] [pid 31419] mod_rewrite.c(468): [client XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:38156] XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [example.net/sid#7fc6ddd849f8][rid#7fc6ddcb30a0/subreq] [perdir /home/www-data/example.net/] go-ahead with proxy request proxy:ajp://localhost:9001/index.html [OK]

[Regression Potential] As stated on the apache bugtracker https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=53929#c10: "The behavior now seems to be consistent with 2.2, and a rewrite rule that conflicts with a DirectoryIndex gets applied."