Gotenberg: ExifTool group-prefix syntax bypasses dangerous-tag blocklist

Summary

CVECVE-2026-42590
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-05-14 16:16:22 UTC
Updated2026-05-14 16:28:04 UTC
DescriptionGotenberg is a Docker-powered stateless API for PDF files. Prior to 8.30.0, The ExifTool metadata write blocklist in Gotenberg can be bypassed using ExifTool's group-prefix syntax, enabling arbitrary file rename, move, hardlink, and symlink creation on the server. ExifTool supports group-prefix syntax where File:FileName is processed identically to FileName -- the prefix is stripped by SetNewValue in Writer.pl before tag matching. The safeKeyPattern regex (^[a-zA-Z0-9\-_.:]+$) allows colons, so prefixed tag names pass validation. Any prefix works: File:FileName, System:Directory, a:HardLink, etc. Additionally, FilePermissions, FileUserID, and FileGroupID pseudo-tags are not blocked at all and can modify file attributes without any prefix. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.30.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.2 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Problem Types: CWE-184 | CWE-184 CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary8.2HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
3.1CNADECLARED8.2HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Gotenberg Gotenberg affected < 8.30.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/security/advisories/GHSA-7v3r-m9c8-r855 [email protected] github.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
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