{"id":"CVE-2026-26331","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2026-26331","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T02:12:46.932Z","title":"Starting in version 2023.06.21 and prior to version 2026.02.21, when yt-dlp's `--netrc-cmd` command-line option (or `netrc_cmd` Python API parameter) is used, an attacker could achieve arbitrary command injection on the user's system with a maliciously…","description":"yt-dlp is a command-line audio/video downloader. Starting in version 2023.06.21 and prior to version 2026.02.21, when yt-dlp's `--netrc-cmd` command-line option (or `netrc_cmd` Python API parameter) is used, an attacker could achieve arbitrary command injection on the user's system with a maliciously crafted URL. yt-dlp maintainers assume the impact of this vulnerability to be high for anyone who uses `--netrc-cmd` in their command/configuration or `netrc_cmd` in their Python scripts. Even though the maliciously crafted URL itself will look very suspicious to many users, it would be trivial for a maliciously crafted webpage with an inconspicuous URL to covertly exploit this vulnerability via HTTP redirect. Users without `--netrc-cmd` in their arguments or `netrc_cmd` in their scripts are unaffected. No evidence has been found of this exploit being used in the wild. yt-dlp version 2026.02.21 fixes this issue by validating all netrc \"machine\" values and raising an error upon unexpected input. As a workaround, users who are unable to upgrade should avoid using the `--netrc-cmd` command-line option (or `netrc_cmd` Python API parameter), or they should at least not pass a placeholder (`{}`) in their `--netrc-cmd` argument.","published":"2026-02-24T03:16:02.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T10:26:06.000Z","status":"Analyzed","sourceIdentifier":"security-advisories@github.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-78"],"affected":["yt-dlp project/yt-dlp"],"epss":{"score":0.0182,"percentile":0.78592,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.82%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/1fbbe29b99dc61375bf6d786f824d9fcf6ea9c1a","tags":["Patch"],"source":"security-advisories@github.com"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.02.21","tags":["Product","Release Notes"],"source":"security-advisories@github.com"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm","tags":["Exploit","Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security-advisories@github.com"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26331","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}