CVE-2019-25729
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPDF Signer 3.0 contains a server-side template injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code by injecting PHP commands through the CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter. Attackers can craft malicious cookie values containing template injection payloads like shell_exec() to execute system commands and retrieve sensitive information from the server.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidencePDF Signer 3.0 suffers from a server-side template injection vulnerability in the CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter handling. Unauthenticated attackers can inject PHP code (such as shell_exec() calls) through this cookie to achieve arbitrary command execution on the server.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify PDF Signer installation and versionLocate the PDF Signer application installation directory and check version.py, version.txt, or the main application executable for version information. Compare the installed version to 3.0.Affected if PDF Signer version 3.0 is installed and the application is running.
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Verify CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter handlingInspect the application source code or configuration to determine if the CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter is processed by the server. Look for code that reads cookie values and passes them to a template engine.Affected if The application reads and processes the CSRF-TOKEN cookie value without sanitization.
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Confirm template engine usage with cookie inputExamine the application code to see if cookie values, specifically CSRF-TOKEN, are passed to a template rendering function that supports dynamic code execution.Affected if Cookie values are directly interpolated into templates without input validation.
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Test for template injection vulnerabilitySend a crafted HTTP request with a CSRF-TOKEN cookie containing template syntax (such as {{7*7}} or PHP code) and observe if the application reflects the evaluated result in the response.Affected if The server reflects executed code from the CSRF-TOKEN cookie in the HTTP response, indicating template injection is possible.
A user is affected if PDF Signer version 3.0 is running and the application processes the CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter through an unsafe template engine that allows code execution.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor patches immediately if available. As an interim control, restrict network access to the PDF Signer application and implement strict input validation on the CSRF-TOKEN cookie parameter to reject template syntax and PHP function calls.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-25729 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-25729 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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