CVE-2026-57485

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

HIGH
8.5
CVSS Score
Published: August 17, 2026 at 07:31 PM UTC
Updated: October 23, 2026 at 04:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorStirling-PDF

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Severity
HIGH8.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
PoC

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

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2.9.0
Affected range stops below 2.9.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
LOW
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-200CWE-522

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