{"id":"CVE-2024-38519","aliases":["GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j","PYSEC-2026-2065"],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38519","summary":"yt-dlp and youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization","details":"`yt-dlp` and `youtube-dl` are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to the fixed versions, `yt-dlp` and `youtube-dl` do 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` and `youtube-dl` also read config from the working directory (and on Windows executables will be executed from the `yt-dlp` or `youtube-dl` directory), this could lead to arbitrary code being executed.\n\n\n\n\n`yt-dlp` version 2024.07.01 fixes this issue by whitelisting the allowed extensions. `youtube-dl` fixes this issue in commit `d42a222` on the `master` branch and in nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later. This might mean some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded, however it will also limit the possible exploitation surface. In addition to upgrading, have `.%(ext)s` at the end of the output template and make sure the user trusts the websites that they are downloading from. Also, make sure to never download to a directory within PATH or other sensitive locations like one's user directory, `system32`, or other binaries locations. For users who are not able to upgrade, keep the default output template (`-o \"%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`); make sure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/sub/... one; try to avoid the generic extractor; and/or use `--ignore-config --config-location ...` to not load config from common locations.","published":"2024-07-02T13:47:36.399Z","modified":"2026-07-15T01:49:03.732640639Z","cvss":{"score":7.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"epss":null,"cisaKev":null,"exploitsKnown":0,"affectedPackages":[{"ecosystem":"PyPI","name":"yt-dlp","fixedVersion":"2024.07.01"}],"fix":{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a","label":"yt-dlp/yt-dlp@5ce5824"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/38xxx/CVE-2024-38519.json"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl/security/advisories/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq"},{"type":"ADVISORY","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":"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":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a"},{"type":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec"},{"type":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-07-15T01:49:03.732640639Z"}}