GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-04-18 20:24 – Updated: 2025-05-27 19:56Description
This advisory follows the security advisory GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j published by the yt-dlp/yt-dlp project to aid remediation of the issue in the ytdl-org/youtube-dl project.
Vulnerability
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).
Impact
Since 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.
Patches
The 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.
Master code d42a222 or later and nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later contain the remediation.
Workarounds
Any/all of the below considerations may limit exposure in case it is necessary to use a vulnerable version
* have .%(ext)s at the end of the output template
* download from websites that you trust
* do not download to a directory within the executable search PATH or other sensitive locations, such as your user directory or system directories
* in Windows versions that support it, set NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath to prevent the cmd shell's executable search adding the default directory before PATH
* consider that the path traversal vulnerability as a result of resolving non_existent_dir\..\..\target does not exist in Linux or macOS
* ensure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/... one (use --get-filename)
* omit any of the subtitle options (--write-subs/--write-srt, --write-auto-subs/--write-automatic-subs, --all-subs).
References
- GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j
- https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "youtube-dl"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "2015.01.25"
},
{
"last_affected": "2021.12.17"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-434",
"CWE-669"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2025-04-18T20:24:07Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"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\u0027s 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",
"id": "GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq",
"modified": "2025-05-27T19:56:40Z",
"published": "2025-04-18T20:24:07Z",
"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"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.