PYSEC-2026-2065
Vulnerability from pysec - Published: 2026-07-07 14:34 - Updated: 2026-07-07 17:25Summary
yt-dlp does not limit the extensions of downloaded files, which could lead to arbitrary filenames being created in the download folder (and path traversal on Windows). Since yt-dlp also reads config from the working directory (and on Windows executables will be executed from the yt-dlp directory) this could lead to arbitrary code being executed.
Patches
yt-dlp version 2024.07.01 fixes this issue by whitelisting the allowed extensions.
This means some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded; however, it will also limit the possible exploitation surface.
Workarounds
It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2024.07.01 as soon as possible, always have .%(ext)s at the end of the output template, and make sure you trust the websites that you are downloading from. Also, make sure to never download to a directory within PATH or other sensitive locations like your user directory, system32, or other binaries locations.
For users not able to upgrade:
- Make sure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/sub/... one
- Try to avoid the generic extractor (--ies default,-generic)
- Keep the default output template (-o "%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s)
- Omit any of the subtitle options (--write-subs, --write-auto-subs, --all-subs, --write-srt)
- Use --ignore-config --config-location ... to not load config from common locations
Details
One potential exploitation might look like this:
From a mimetype we do not know, we default to trimming the leading bit and using the remainder. Given a webpage that contains
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "ffmpeg",
"encodingFormat": "video/exe",
"contentUrl": "https://example.com/video.mp4"
}
</script>
this will try and download a file called ffmpeg.exe (-o "%(title)s.%(ext)s).
ffmpeg.exe will be searched for in the current directory, and so upon the next run arbitrary code can be executed.
Alternatively, when engineering a file called yt-dlp.conf to be created, the config file could contain --exec ... and so would also execute arbitrary code.
Acknowledgement
A big thanks to @JarLob for independently finding a new application of the same underlying issue. More can be read about on the dedicated GitHub Security Lab disclosure here: Path traversal saving subtitles (GHSL-2024-090)
References
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38519
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a
- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp
| Name | purl | yt-dlp | pkg:pypi/yt-dlp |
|---|
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "yt-dlp",
"purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2024.07.01"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"2021.1.15",
"2021.1.15.post1",
"2021.1.16",
"2021.1.20",
"2021.1.24",
"2021.1.24.post1",
"2021.1.29",
"2021.10.10",
"2021.10.22",
"2021.10.9",
"2021.11.10",
"2021.11.10.1",
"2021.12.1",
"2021.12.25",
"2021.12.27",
"2021.2.15",
"2021.2.19",
"2021.2.24",
"2021.2.4",
"2021.2.9",
"2021.3.1",
"2021.3.15",
"2021.3.21",
"2021.3.24",
"2021.3.24.1",
"2021.3.3",
"2021.3.3.1",
"2021.3.3.2",
"2021.3.7",
"2021.4.11",
"2021.4.22",
"2021.4.3",
"2021.5.11",
"2021.5.20",
"2021.6.1",
"2021.6.23",
"2021.6.8",
"2021.6.9",
"2021.7.21",
"2021.7.24",
"2021.7.7",
"2021.8.10",
"2021.8.2",
"2021.9.1",
"2021.9.2",
"2021.9.25",
"2022.1.21",
"2022.10.4",
"2022.11.11",
"2022.2.3",
"2022.2.4",
"2022.3.8",
"2022.3.8.1",
"2022.3.8.2",
"2022.4.8",
"2022.5.18",
"2022.6.22",
"2022.6.22.1",
"2022.6.29",
"2022.7.17",
"2022.7.18",
"2022.8.14",
"2022.8.19",
"2022.8.8",
"2022.9.1",
"2023.1.2",
"2023.1.6",
"2023.10.13",
"2023.10.7",
"2023.11.13.232715.dev0",
"2023.11.13.5826.dev0",
"2023.11.14",
"2023.11.15.232826.dev0",
"2023.11.16",
"2023.11.16.232727.dev0",
"2023.11.18.232705.dev0",
"2023.11.19.232719.dev0",
"2023.11.20.232729.dev0",
"2023.11.26.232703.dev0",
"2023.11.28.232715.dev0",
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"2023.12.31.232713.dev0",
"2023.12.5.232702.dev0",
"2023.12.6.232721.dev0",
"2023.2.17",
"2023.3.3",
"2023.3.4",
"2023.6.21",
"2023.6.22",
"2023.7.6",
"2023.9.24",
"2024.1.14.232710.dev0",
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"2024.2.14.232704.dev0",
"2024.2.15.232705.dev0",
"2024.2.16.232705.dev0",
"2024.2.17.232706.dev0",
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"2024.2.2.232707.dev0",
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"2024.2.3.232712.dev0",
"2024.2.4.232659.dev0",
"2024.2.5.232712.dev0",
"2024.2.9.232659.dev0",
"2024.3.10",
"2024.3.10.232703.dev0",
"2024.3.14.232657.dev0",
"2024.3.17.232657.dev0",
"2024.3.18.232707.dev0",
"2024.3.19.232701.dev0",
"2024.3.2.232720.dev0",
"2024.3.20.232704.dev0",
"2024.3.22.232703.dev0",
"2024.3.29.232706.dev0",
"2024.3.3.232706.dev0",
"2024.3.30.232704.dev0",
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"2024.3.4.232716.dev0",
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"2024.3.7.232716.dev0",
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"2024.6.11.232712.dev0",
"2024.6.13.232720.dev0",
"2024.6.15.232712.dev0",
"2024.6.16.232832.dev0",
"2024.6.17.232743.dev0",
"2024.6.20.232815.dev0",
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"2024.6.29.232730.dev0",
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]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2024-38519",
"GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j"
],
"details": "### Summary\n`yt-dlp` does not limit the extensions of downloaded files, which could lead to arbitrary filenames being created in the download folder (and path traversal on Windows). Since `yt-dlp` also reads config from the working directory (and on Windows executables will be executed from the yt-dlp directory) this could lead to arbitrary code being executed.\n\n### Patches\n`yt-dlp` version 2024.07.01 fixes this issue by whitelisting the allowed extensions.\nThis means some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded; however, it will also limit the possible exploitation surface.\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2024.07.01 as soon as possible, **always** have `.%(ext)s` at the end of the output template, and make sure you trust the websites that you are downloading from. Also, make sure to never download to a directory within PATH or other sensitive locations like your user directory, `system32`, or other binaries locations.\n\nFor users not able to upgrade:\n- Make sure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/sub/... one\n- Try to avoid the generic extractor (`--ies default,-generic`)\n- Keep the default output template (`-o \"%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`)\n- Omit any of the subtitle options (`--write-subs`, `--write-auto-subs`, `--all-subs`, `--write-srt`)\n- Use `--ignore-config --config-location ...` to not load config from common locations\n\n### Details\nOne potential exploitation might look like this:\n\nFrom a mimetype we do not know, we default to trimming the leading bit and using the remainder. Given a webpage that contains\n```html\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e\n{\n \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n \"name\": \"ffmpeg\",\n \"encodingFormat\": \"video/exe\",\n \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.com/video.mp4\"\n}\n\u003c/script\u003e\n```\nthis will try and download a file called `ffmpeg.exe` (`-o \"%(title)s.%(ext)s`).\n`ffmpeg.exe` will be searched for in the current directory, and so upon the next run arbitrary code can be executed.\n\nAlternatively, when engineering a file called `yt-dlp.conf` to be created, the config file could contain `--exec ...` and so would also execute arbitrary code.\n\n### Acknowledgement\nA big thanks to @JarLob for independently finding a new application of the same underlying issue.\nMore can be read about on the dedicated GitHub Security Lab disclosure here: [Path traversal saving subtitles (GHSL-2024-090)](\u003chttps://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp\u003e)\n\n### References\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j\n- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38519\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a\n- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp\n",
"id": "PYSEC-2026-2065",
"modified": "2026-07-07T17:25:52.761207Z",
"published": "2026-07-07T14:34:36.149029Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl/security/advisories/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38519"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830"
},
{
"type": "FIX",
"url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j"
}
],
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "yt-dlp File system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization"
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline
Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC
How durations are calculated
Following the VTEM framework (Black Hat USA 2015), time to patch starts when the vendor or a coordinator was informed, total time to patch at discovery, and disclosure to patch at public disclosure; vendor response time runs from the report to its acknowledgement. Time to exploit and time unpatched start at the earliest discovery or report, falling back to public disclosure. Unpatched time ends at the first recorded patch, or the calculation time when no patch is recorded. Exploitation to patch shows the interval between those two events; a published proof of concept is a public exploit, not exploitation.
Each result shows its source dates. A negative interval means the end event came first; when date-only inputs leave the order open, the result says so. Date-only inputs are approximate. The earliest evidence wins: KEV report dates and sightings are labelled as such. Records describing another vulnerability are listed but never calculated from, and a PoC alone does not establish exploitation. Missing patch evidence does not prove that no patch exists. Filters below change the event list only.
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