CVE-2026-42590CWE-184

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

High · published May 14, 2026

CVSS v3.1
8.2
EPSS
0%
Percentile
37.0
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

Gotenberg 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.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
8.2 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00437 · 37.0th percentile
Weakness
CWE-184 · Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
Published
2026-05-14T15:36Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 14 MAY 15:36Z
    Gotenberg: ExifTool group-prefix syntax bypasses dangerous-tag blocklist
    cvelistv5