AUGUST 14, 2026
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Case File

CVE-2026-16770

CRITICAL · CVSS 9.8 EPSS 0.39% Public Exploit

Source: NVD + CISA KEV + EPSS · Published 2026-08-13 · Last synced 2026-08-14

CyberRota Analysis

AI-Generated

The vulnerability allows for argument injection into the wkhtmltopdf command through untrusted HTML documents that contain specific meta tags, enabling attackers to manipulate rendering options and potentially access local files or write to arbitrary paths. This poses a significant risk to applications that render untrusted HTML, as it can lead to unauthorized file access or data leakage. Organizations using PDF::WebKit versions up to 1.2 should prioritize addressing this issue, especially those handling user-generated or untrusted content.

Public Exploit Signal

A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.

GitHub PoC Links

Note: these links are listed for security research and verification purposes only.

CVE
CVE-2026-16770
Severity
CRITICAL
CVSS
9.8
EPSS
0.39%

Original NVD Description

PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow argument injection into wkhtmltopdf via meta tags in the source document. For an HTML string or file source, the constructor collects every <meta name="pdf-webkit-KEY" content="VALUE"> element in the document head through _pdf_webkit_meta_tags and turns each one into a wkhtmltopdf command line option. KEY is normalized to an option name matching --[a-z0-9-]+ but is not checked against an allow list, VALUE is passed through unchanged as the argument that follows it, and a VALUE of "yes" emits the option as a bare flag. BUILD merges the meta derived options last, so they also override the module defaults and the options passed to new. Switches such as --enable-local-file-access and --cookie-jar are reachable this way. The renderer is executed with an argument list rather than a shell command, so this is argument injection and not shell injection. Any caller that renders untrusted HTML lets the document choose the renderer's options and override those set by the application, including options that read local files into the resulting PDF or write to a chosen path. A URL source is not scanned, and the scan is skipped when XML::LibXML, a recommended dependency, is not installed.