Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2026-42589

Q: Is CVE-2026-42589 actively exploited?

A proof-of-concept exploit exists for CVE-2026-42589, but active exploitation has not been confirmed at this time.

Q: What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-42589?

CVE-2026-42589 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

Published2026-05-14
Fixed in8.31.0
WeaknessCWE-78

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

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.

Timeline

dates in UTC

2026-05-1416:16CVE publishedNVD
2026-10-2319:23First public proof of conceptPoC-in-GitHub

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC

Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days

Block these indicators

Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-42589?format=txt
CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-42589?format=csv
TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD

Thecodingmachine gotenberg

Branch	Affected	Fixed in	Source
8.31	< 8.31.0	8.31.0	NVD

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

Update Thecodingmachine gotenberg to 8.31.0

Advisories and patches

github.comMitigation · Vendor Advisory

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:25 UTC

Nuclei template: none so far
Exploit-DB: no entry
Proof-of-concept repositories: 3 repositories, unverifiedfineman999/POC_CVE-2026-42589codeb0ssx/CVE-2026-42589xCVE-2026-40281-PoCHackfutSecRoot/-GOTENBERG-RCE-CHAIN

Sources

NVDCVE recordread 2026-10-23
CISA-ADPSSVC decisionpoc2026-05-14
OpenCVESSVC decisionpoc—
CNACVSS 3.19.8read 2026-10-23
CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-78read 2026-10-23
FIRST EPSSEPSS score3.7 %2026-10-22
PoC-in-GitHubproof of concept3read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published: 2026-05-14
Last Modified: 2026-06-17
NVD status: Analyzed

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-42589?

Is CVE-2026-42589 actively exploited?

A proof-of-concept exploit exists for CVE-2026-42589, but active exploitation has not been confirmed at this time.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-42589?

CVE-2026-42589 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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