Vulnerability · Published Aug 17, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-57485Stirling-PDF: Internal Service Account API Key Disclosure via Pipeline Endpoint

High 8.5

In plain English

A high-severity information exposure in Stirling-PDF from Stirling-Tools. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 37% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)8.5High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 63.4% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Stirling-PDF is a locally hosted web application that facilitates various operations on PDF files. Prior to 2.9.0, the /api/v1/pipeline/handleData endpoint in app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/pipeline/PipelineProcessor.java injects the STIRLING-PDF-BACKEND-API-USER API key into pipeline subrequests, allowing an authenticated ROLE_USER to retrieve the key through /api/v1/user/get-api-key, impersonate the internal service account, bypass normal rate limits, and access internal endpoints including /api/v1/info/requests/all and /api/v1/info/load/all. This issue is fixed in version 2.9.0.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
Stirling-Tools	Stirling-PDF	< 2.9.0

Weakness: CWE-200, CWE-522 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

References

https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/security/advisories/GHSA-3xxh-mm3g-c9w5 x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/pull/6047 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/commit/de9625942bbc329fdefcfde161476a633a3b3213 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases/tag/v2.9.0 x_refsource_MISC