CVE-2026-40281

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 10.0 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.6%, top 54% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
Elevated
10.0
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 1%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

Gotenberg is a Docker-powered stateless API for PDF files. In versions 8.30.1 and earlier, the metadata write endpoint validates metadata keys for control characters but leaves metadata values unsanitized. A newline character in a metadata value splits the ExifTool stdin line into two separate arguments, allowing injection of arbitrary ExifTool pseudo-tags such as -FileName, -Directory, -SymLink, and -HardLink. This is a bypass of the incomplete key-sanitization fix introduced in v8.30.1. An unauthenticated attacker can rename or move any PDF being processed to an arbitrary path in the container filesystem, overwrite arbitrary files, or create symlinks and hard links at arbitrary paths.

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0(medium)
EG Risk
76(Attend)
EG Risk 76/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS
45.6%
KEV
Not listed

Published

May 6, 2026

Last Modified

May 11, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Jul 22, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github.
github Patch Available

ExifTool stdin argument injection via metadata value newlines (bypass of key sanitization fix in v8.30.1) · Advisory · gotenberg/gotenberg · GitHub

https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/security/advisories/GHSA-q7r4-hc83-hf2q
github_commit Patch Available

commit 405f1069c026 (gotenberg/gotenberg)

Patch available: gotenberg/gotenberg v8.31.0 (contains commit 405f1069c026)

https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/commit/405f1069c026bb08f319fb5a44e5c67c33208318

Affected Packages

(2 across 1 ecosystem)
Go(2)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v7———
github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8—8.31.0—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 38× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-23 14:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-23 14:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-23 03:11 UTCEG score recompute
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  1. 2026-07-06 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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  24. 2026-06-15 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-13 23:00 UTCEPSS rescore
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  44. 2026-06-01 13:52 UTCEPSS rescore
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  52. 2026-05-29 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
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  65. 2026-05-20 11:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-05-20 11:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-05-18 22:12 UTCEG score recompute

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-40281?
CVE-2026-40281 is a critical vulnerability published on May 6, 2026. Gotenberg is a Docker-powered stateless API for PDF files. In versions 8.30.1 and earlier, the metadata write endpoint validates metadata keys for control characters but leaves metadata values unsanitized. A newline character in a metadata value splits the ExifTool stdin line into two separate…
When was CVE-2026-40281 disclosed?
CVE-2026-40281 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 6, 2026, with the most recent update on May 11, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-40281 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-40281 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 45.6% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-40281?
CVE-2026-40281 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-40281?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-40281, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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