All vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-40281GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2qGO-2026-5572

Gotenberg vulnerable to argument injection via newlines in ExifTool metadata values

gotenberg gotenbergGoLibraries & packages
Open in ThreatlineRecord JSON
CVSS
10.0Critical
ExploitationPublic exploit codeCISA's assessment says proof of concept code is public, assessed 7 May 2026. Not in the KEV catalogCISA via CVE List
Exploit odds (EPSS)2.26%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 82% of CVEs. Scored 27 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in8.31.0Fixed versionOSV
Published6 May 2026Updated 25 Jun 2026CVE List

What fixes it

  • 8.31.0github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8, GoOSVgo get github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8@v8.31.0

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Timeline

  1. 6 May 2026, 20:46 UTCPublishedCVE List
  2. 27 Oct 2026, 18:54 UTCExploit code publicGitHub proof-of-concept repositories

Public exploit code and templates 1

  • Scanner templateGotenberg <= 8.30.1 - Remote Code ExecutionNuclei

Listed so defenders can prioritize. Threatline links to the source and does not host exploit code.

Reports 1

1 outlet mention it. Reports are not confirmation; each links to its source.

Description

Gotenberg is a Docker-powered stateless API for PDF files. In versions 8.30.1 and earlier, the metadata write endpoint validates metadata keys for control characters but leaves metadata values unsanitized. A newline character in a metadata value splits the ExifTool stdin line into two separate arguments, allowing injection of arbitrary ExifTool pseudo-tags such as -FileName, -Directory, -SymLink, and -HardLink. This is a bypass of the incomplete key-sanitization fix introduced in v8.30.1. An unauthenticated attacker can rename or move any PDF being processed to an arbitrary path in the container filesystem, overwrite arbitrary files, or create symlinks and hard links at arbitrary paths.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 2

  • gotenbergaffected: <= 8.30.1CVE List
  • github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8, Gofrom first release, fixed in 8.31.0OSV

References 2