Gotenberg vulnerable to argument injection via newlines in ExifTool metadata values
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-88.
Summary
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.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gotenberg | gotenberg | up to 8.30.1 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 (Go) | before 8.31.0 | 8.31.0 | Patch available | GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q |
- gotenberg Vendorgotenberg Affected up to 8.30.1 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 8.31.0 Fixed in 8.31.0 Patch available GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 (Go) Fixed in 8.31.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-40281
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q
References
More Gotenberg vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-30869 Gotenberg: Unauthenticated RCE via ExifTool Metadata Key Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-30876 Gotenberg: Unauthenticated SSRF via default deny-list bypass in downloadFrom and webhook CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.4
- TI-2026-27588 Gotenberg has a ReDoS via extraHttpHeaders scope feature CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-30875 Gotenberg: Server-Side Request Forgery via Chromium URL Endpoint with Redirect-Based Deny-List Bypass CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-30871 Gotenberg: Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) in github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-30870 Gotenberg: ExifTool group-prefix syntax bypasses dangerous-tag blocklist CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
Sources
- CVE-2026-40281 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-40281 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences