{"id":"CVE-2026-42589","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2026-42589","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T23:57:42.685Z","title":"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.","description":"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.","published":"2026-05-14T16:16:22.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T10:48:07.000Z","status":"Analyzed","sourceIdentifier":"security-advisories@github.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-78"],"affected":["thecodingmachine/gotenberg"],"epss":{"score":0.03013,"percentile":0.87324,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (3.01%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/security/advisories/GHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657","tags":["Exploit","Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security-advisories@github.com"},{"url":"https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/security/advisories/GHSA-rqgh-gxv4-6657","tags":["Exploit","Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42589","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}