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.
References5
- github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/commit/de9625942bbc329fd…
- github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/pull/6047
- github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases/tag/v2.9.0
- github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/security/advisories/GHSA…
- github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/security/advisories/GHSA…
Metrics
- CVSS 3.1
-
8.5
HIGH
Score source: CNA
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N - EPSS — exploit probability
- 0% percentile: 37 · as of 11 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-200CWE-522
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.