CVE-2026-17431 PUBLISHED

PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow OS command injection via a 2-arg open() of the output path in to_pdf and of stylesheet paths in _style_tag_for

Assigner: CPANSec
Reserved: 25.07.2026 Published: 12.08.2026 Updated: 13.08.2026

PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow OS command injection via a 2-arg open() of the output path in to_pdf and of stylesheet paths in _style_tag_for.

to_pdf reads the generated PDF back from its path argument, and _style_tag_for reads each entry of the stylesheets list, by assigning the path to a local @ARGV and reading it with the diamond operator, which opens each @ARGV element with Perl's 2-arg open(). A value that begins or ends with a pipe ("| cmd", "cmd |") is run as a command rather than opened as a file, and one that begins with a redirect ("> path", ">> path") opens that path for write or append. to_file forwards its path argument to to_pdf and reaches the same read.

Any caller that forwards untrusted input as the output path or as a stylesheets entry can run a command under the process UID; with the "cmd |" form the command's output is returned in place of the PDF, and with the "> path" form the named file is truncated. Stylesheets may only be added to an HTML source, so a URL or file source exposes the output path alone.

Product Status

Vendor MITHALDU
Product PDF::WebKit
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 1.2 (incl.)

Workarounds

No fixed release is available. Apply the patch, which reads both paths with a 3-arg open so the value is never interpreted as a command or redirect.

Otherwise, do not pass untrusted input as the output path to to_pdf or to_file, or as an entry in the stylesheets list.

Note that the wkhtmltopdf project is no longer being developed, and users of this package should migrate to alternative solutions.

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE
  • CWE-73 External Control of File Name or Path CWE