CVE-2026-42589 PUBLISHED

Gotenberg: Unauthenticated RCE via ExifTool Metadata Key Injection

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 29.04.2026 Published: 14.05.2026 Updated: 14.05.2026

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.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 9.8

Product Status

Vendor gotenberg
Product gotenberg
Versions
  • Version < 8.31.0 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE