Critical severity · published Aug 12, 2026
CVE-2026-16770
PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow argument injection into wkhtmltopdf via meta tags in the source document
9.8
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 54% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PD
PDF::WebKit · MITHALDU
through 1.2 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16770
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16770
github.com
https://github.com/kingpong/perl-PDF-WebKit/issues/9
security.metacpan.org
https://security.metacpan.org/patches/P/PDF-WebKit/1.2/CVE-2026-16770-r1.patch
wkhtmltopdf.org
https://wkhtmltopdf.org/status.html
www.openwall.com
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/13/2
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