{"id":"GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq","aliases":[],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq","summary":"youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization","details":"#### Description\nThis advisory follows the security advisory [GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j published by the _yt-dlp/yt-dlp_ project](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j) to aid remediation of the issue in the _ytdl-org/youtube-dl_ project.\n\n### Vulnerability\n_youtube-dl_ 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). \n\n### Impact\nSince _youtube-dl_ also reads config from the working directory (and, on Windows, executables will be executed from the _youtube-dl_ directory by default) the vulnerability could allow the unwanted execution of local code, including downloads masquerading as, eg, subtitles.\n\n### Patches\nThe versions of _youtube-dl_ listed as _Patched_ remediate this vulnerability by disallowing path separators and whitelisting allowed extensions. As a result, some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded.\n\n**Master code d42a222 or later and nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later** contain the remediation.\n\n### Workarounds\nAny/all of the below considerations may limit exposure in case it is necessary to use a vulnerable version\n* have `.%(ext)s` at the end of the output template\n* download from websites that you trust\n* do not download to a directory within the executable search `PATH` or other sensitive locations, such as your user directory or system directories\n* in Windows versions that support it, set [`NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath`](https://stackoverflow.com/a/50118548) to prevent the _cmd_ shell's executable search adding the default directory before `PATH`\n* consider that the path traversal vulnerability as a result of resolving `non_existent_dir\\..\\..\\target` does not exist in Linux or macOS\n* ensure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/... one (use `--get-filename`)\n* omit any of the subtitle options (`--write-subs`/` --write-srt`, `--write-auto-subs`/`--write-automatic-subs`, `--all-subs`).\n\n### References\n* [GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j)\n* https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830","published":"2025-04-18T20:24:07Z","modified":"2026-02-04T02:44:06.010018Z","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":"youtube-dl","fixedVersion":null}],"fix":{"url":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830","label":"ytdl-org/youtube-dl#32830"},"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":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-02-04T02:44:06.010018Z"}}