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

published 2026-08-17 2 mo ago modified 2026-10-23 16 d ago also EUVD-2026-60364

cvss: 8.5; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.4%; EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 36%
public exploits: 0; none known

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.

Patch / fix

fixed in 2 links 3

stirling stirling_pdf 2.9.0
stirlingpdf stirling_pdf 2.9.0

github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF@de96259 commit
github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF#6047 pull request
github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases/tag/v2.9.0 release

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: Proof of concept is public
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial
Assessed: 2 mo ago (2026-08-18)

Exploit prediction

0.42% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 36% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

github.com https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/security/advisories/GHSA-3xxh-mm3g-c9w5 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	8.5	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

Affected products

Stirling-Tools Stirling-PDF

Classification

Weakness

CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
CWE-522 Insufficiently Protected Credentials

References

Sources

CVE List CVE-2026-57485
NVD CVE-2026-57485

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.

Summary