diff --git a/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/misc/AttachmentsController.java b/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/misc/AttachmentsController.java
index d1027716e..d709b0000 100644
--- a/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/misc/AttachmentsController.java
+++ b/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/misc/AttachmentsController.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public class AttachmentsController {
             throws IOException {
 
         // Load the PDF document
-        PDDocument document = pdfDocumentFactory.load(pdfFile, true);
+        PDDocument document = pdfDocumentFactory.load(pdfFile, false);
 
         // Get or create the document catalog
         PDDocumentCatalog catalog = document.getDocumentCatalog();
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ public class AttachmentsController {
         // Set PageMode to UseAttachments to show the attachments panel
         catalog.setPageMode(PageMode.USE_ATTACHMENTS);
 
-        // Return the modified PDF
         return WebResponseUtils.pdfDocToWebResponse(
                 document,
                 Filenames.toSimpleFileName(pdfFile.getOriginalFilename())
@@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ public class AttachmentsController {
             @RequestParam("fileInput") MultipartFile pdfFile) throws IOException {
 
         // Load the PDF document and document catalog
-        PDDocument document = pdfDocumentFactory.load(pdfFile, true);
+        PDDocument document = pdfDocumentFactory.load(pdfFile);
         PDDocumentCatalog catalog = document.getDocumentCatalog();
 
         // Remove embedded files
diff --git a/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/service/PDFAttachmentService.java b/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/service/PDFAttachmentService.java
index dd39960ce..a5a3f2a4a 100644
--- a/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/service/PDFAttachmentService.java
+++ b/stirling-pdf/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/service/PDFAttachmentService.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package stirling.software.SPDF.service;
 
-import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -10,6 +9,7 @@ import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDDocument;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.filespecification.PDComplexFileSpecification;
 import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.filespecification.PDEmbeddedFile;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.encryption.AccessPermission;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile;
 
@@ -25,19 +25,16 @@ public class PDFAttachmentService implements PDFAttachmentServiceInterface {
             PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode embeddedFilesTree,
             List<MultipartFile> attachments)
             throws IOException {
-//        todo: sanitize attachments first
-        // todo: find out how to access the embedded files in the PDF
         Map<String, PDComplexFileSpecification> existingNames;
 
         try {
             existingNames = embeddedFilesTree.getNames();
             if (existingNames == null) {
-                log.info("No existing embedded files found, creating new names map.");
-                // Initialize an empty map if no existing names are found
+                log.debug("No existing embedded files found, creating new names map.");
                 existingNames = new java.util.HashMap<>();
             }
 
-            log.debug("Existing embedded files: {}", existingNames.keySet());
+            log.debug("Embedded files: {}", existingNames.keySet());
         } catch (IOException e) {
             log.error("Could not retrieve existing embedded files", e);
             throw e;
@@ -49,15 +46,17 @@ public class PDFAttachmentService implements PDFAttachmentServiceInterface {
                     // Create attachments specification
                     PDComplexFileSpecification fileSpecification = new PDComplexFileSpecification();
                     fileSpecification.setFile(attachment.getOriginalFilename());
+                    fileSpecification.setFileUnicode(attachment.getOriginalFilename());
                     fileSpecification.setFileDescription(
                             "Embedded attachment: " + attachment.getOriginalFilename());
 
                     try {
+                        // Create embedded attachment
                         PDEmbeddedFile embeddedFile =
-                                new PDEmbeddedFile(
-                                        document, new ByteArrayInputStream(attachment.getBytes()));
+                                new PDEmbeddedFile(document, attachment.getInputStream());
                         embeddedFile.setSize((int) attachment.getSize());
                         embeddedFile.setCreationDate(new java.util.GregorianCalendar());
+                        embeddedFile.setFile(fileSpecification);
                         embeddedFile.setModDate(new java.util.GregorianCalendar());
 
                         // Set MIME type if available
@@ -68,9 +67,11 @@ public class PDFAttachmentService implements PDFAttachmentServiceInterface {
 
                         // Associate embedded attachment with file specification
                         fileSpecification.setEmbeddedFile(embeddedFile);
+                        fileSpecification.setEmbeddedFileUnicode(embeddedFile);
 
                         // Add to the existing names map
-                        existingEmbeddedFiles.put(attachment.getOriginalFilename(), fileSpecification);
+                        existingEmbeddedFiles.put(
+                                attachment.getOriginalFilename(), fileSpecification);
 
                         log.info(
                                 "Added attachment: {} ({} bytes)",
@@ -85,5 +86,23 @@ public class PDFAttachmentService implements PDFAttachmentServiceInterface {
                 });
 
         embeddedFilesTree.setNames(existingNames);
+
+        // Ensure document has proper access permissions for embedded files
+        grantAccessPermissions(document);
+    }
+
+    private void grantAccessPermissions(PDDocument document) {
+        AccessPermission currentPermissions = document.getCurrentAccessPermission();
+
+        currentPermissions.setCanAssembleDocument(true);
+        currentPermissions.setCanFillInForm(currentPermissions.canFillInForm());
+        currentPermissions.setCanModify(true);
+        currentPermissions.setCanPrint(true);
+        currentPermissions.setCanPrintFaithful(true);
+
+        // Ensure these permissions are enabled for embedded file access
+        currentPermissions.setCanExtractContent(true);
+        currentPermissions.setCanExtractForAccessibility(true);
+        currentPermissions.setCanModifyAnnotations(true);
     }
 }