CVE-2024-38519
yt-dlp and youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- GitHub_M
Description
`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. `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.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.33% · top 74% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.8.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected < 2024.07.01 – < 2024.07.01
- affected >= 2015.01.25 – ≤ 2021.12.17
- affected nightly – < 2024-07-03
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIyt-dlpGHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j (opens in a new tab)
References (8)
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl/security/advisories/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2024-38519)Record last updated .