The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for facilitating end-user access to remote applications based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). TCP traffic is packaged into the body of HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) messages, enabling the TCP traffic to be transmitted through HTTP systems in an application-independent manner as if it were native HTTP traffic. TCP traffic therefore flows through firewall systems without requiring access to an external TCP port, and flows through HTTP proxy servers as well. The disclosed technique enables mapping bi-directional TCP messages to HTTP, which is designed for client-initiated message traffic only.