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TI-2026-30869 Aliases CVE-2026-42589GHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657

Gotenberg: Unauthenticated RCE via ExifTool Metadata Key Injection

Priority HIGH 82CWE-78Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-78.

Summary

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.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.03013 87th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed gotenberg (gotenberg): 8.31.0

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
gotenberggotenbergbefore 8.31.08.31.0Patch availableCNA
—github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 (Go)——No fix listedGHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657
  • gotenberg Vendorgotenberg Affected before 8.31.0 Fixed in 8.31.0 Patch available CNA
  • github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 (Go) Vendor— Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:thecodingmachine:gotenberg:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 8.31.0Vulnerablegotenberg
  • cpe:2.3:a:thecodingmachine:gotenberg:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 8.31.0 Vulnerable ·gotenberg

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA gotenberg (gotenberg) Fixed in 8.31.0

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-42589
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657

References

Exploit 1

Advisory 1

Other 1

  • TI-2026-29063 Gotenberg vulnerable to argument injection via newlines in ExifTool metadata values CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
  • 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
See all 21 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences