CVE-2026-50023
Prior to 2026.06.09, a vulnerability exists in yt-dlp that allows a remote attacker to write arbitrary OS-shortcut files (such as .desktop, .url, .webloc) to the user's filesystem, bypassing the remediation for CVE-2024-38519.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.66%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
yt-dlp is a command-line audio/video downloader. Prior to 2026.06.09, a vulnerability exists in yt-dlp that allows a remote attacker to write arbitrary OS-shortcut files (such as .desktop, .url, .webloc) to the user's filesystem, bypassing the remediation for CVE-2024-38519. The allowlist explicitly included the unsafe extensions .desktop, .url, and .webloc so that the functionality of the --write-link option (and its variants) could be preserved. These allowlist inclusions can be exploited by an attacker to write malicious OS-shortcut files in the context of a media or subtitles download. This vulnerability is fixed in 2026.06.09.
- CVSS 3.1
- 9.6 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.66% probability · 50th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-641
- Affected
- yt-dlp project/yt-dlp
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.06.09.230517Product, Release Notes
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/e578e265f7c6ca94a74b30e0d8d6196a4d19fb6aPatch
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.06.09Product, Release Notes
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-c6mh-fpjc-4pr3Exploit, Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.