{"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":"### 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<script type=\"application/ld+json\">\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</script>\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)](<https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp>)\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","published":"2024-07-02T13:47:36.399Z","modified":"2026-08-12T03:51:19.581612428Z","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"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-08-12T03:51:19.581612428Z"}}