CVE-2026-42589
In your normal cycle
Critical by CVSS (9.8), but no sign of active exploitation.
Description
Gotenberg is a Docker-powered stateless API for PDF files. Prior to 8.31.0, Gotenberg's /forms/pdfengines/metadata/write HTTP endpoint accepts a JSON metadata object and passes its keys directly to ExifTool via the go-exiftool library. No validation is performed on key characters. A \n embedded in a JSON key splits the ExifTool stdin stream into a new argument line, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary ExifTool flags — including -if, which evaluates Perl expressions. This achieves unauthenticated OS command execution in a single HTTP request. The response is HTTP 200 with a valid PDF, making the attack transparent to basic monitoring. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.31.0.
Scoring
| CVSS | 9.8 (CRITICAL, v3.1) |
|---|---|
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| EPSS | 3.68% — more likely to be exploited than 89% of all CVEs |
| Weakness | CWE-78 |
| On CISA KEV | no |
| Public exploit | none known |
| Published | 2026-05-14 |
| Last modified | 2026-06-17 |
Affected (1)
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| thecodingmachine | gotenberg |
References
→ the Explorer · watch your stack · NVD